Final Relay Win Gives Marian Team Title
November 22, 2014
By Butch Harmon
Special to Second Half
HOLLAND – Heading into this year’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Girls Swimming and Diving Finals, Bloomfield Hills Marian coach William Thompson expected a wide-open battle.
He also expected the title to be decided in the final race.
And that’s exactly what happened as his 400-yard freestyle relay team edged Ann Arbor Skyline by six hundredths of a second to claim the deciding points and deliver Marian its third MHSAA title.
Marian finished with 231.5 points to edge Skyline, which finished with 220 points at the Holland Aquatic Center.
“During the 400 relay, I walked over to the Skyline coach and told her if you don’t think this is fun, holy smokes,” Thompson said. “She was tickled pink too.
“My hunch is that this was the best meet to be at. It was such a close finish.”
Portage Central took third with 219.5 points, followed by Dexter (215) and Birmingham Seaholm (211) to round out the top five.
Marian’s 400 relay of junior Christian Schott, sophomores Sophia Schott and Kailyn Swantek, and senior Mollie Pulte pulled it out for the Mustangs in the final event.
“We knew we had to win the 400 to win the meet,” Pulte said. “It was a close race and I was going up against Katie Portz, who I went up against in the 100 and 200 free(style) finals. I knew it was close at the end, but I didn’t want to let my teammates down. I’ve never had a greater feeling in my life. All the hard work of the last four years paid off. It’s such a great feeling.”
The two-day meet was a memorable end to her outstanding high school career.
Pulte, who set MHSAA Finals records last year in both the 100 and 200 freestyles, added a pair of individual titles to go with the team title this season. She won the 200 free in a time of 1:48.28 and by only 15 hundredths of a second.
Pulte, who is headed to the University of Florida to continue her career next season, won the 100 free in 50.21 and also broke her LP Division 2 Finals record in the 200 free in Friday’s preliminaries with a time of 1:47.88.
Winning the team title, however, was the biggest highlight.
“Friday I was swimming for myself, to have the best time,” Pulte said. “(Saturday), it was all about the team. All I wanted to do was to be the first to touch the wall. I just wanted to help my team get points and win the title. To go out as a senior with a team state championship, it was just the biggest day. There was no way I was going to let down the other 20 girls on the team. They were all behind me cheering me on, and I was not going to let them down.”
Pulte was not the only Marian individual champion. Sophia Schott won the 50 freestyle in a time of 23.66, by two hundredths of a second.
“I knew it was real close,” Schott said. “I just put my head down and went as hard as I could. I didn’t see the time at the end, but then all my teammates came up to me yelling and screaming and telling me I won. It was so exciting.”
Schott also got the Mustangs off to a fast start in the 400 free relay as the first leg.
“It’s a feeling I’ve never felt before,” Schott said. “I’m so proud of everyone. It was real exciting, and everybody was so pumped up and so excited. We knew we had to have everyone step up.”
Team effort was the key, Thompson said.
“It was not the superstars that win a meet like this,” Thompson said. “The kids that you don’t hear about were the ones who won the meet (Saturday). We needed the whole team to step up. It wasn’t about individuals; it was everyone on the team contributing to get this.”
For second-place Skyline, just being in the hunt was a big accomplishment. Skyline was on pace to finish fifth at the end of Friday’s preliminaries, but was keyed in part by a couple of close runner-up finishes by Portz.
“We never expected to be here,” Skyline coach Maureen Isaac said. “We had a pretty tough day (Friday), but the girls came back today. They scratched and clawed and came back today. We were not even in the hunt at the end of the day yesterday, but the heart that these girls showed was amazing. They refused to give up and just kept clawing back.”
The runner-up finish was the second in three years for Skyline, as the Eagles also placed second at the 2012 meet.
Saturday’s Final also provided a memorable end to the high school career of Holland senior Taylor Garcia. Garcia, who will swim at the University of Arizona next year, entered the finals with six individual titles and was also part of six relay winners as she helped Holland win the last three team titles.
While Holland finished 10th as a team this season, Garcia again enjoyed a big meet as she won both the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. Garcia set a new meet record in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.95, which broke her record of 54.01 set last year.
“I really wanted to break my state record,” Garcia said. “I didn’t break it by much, but I’ll take it. It was very exciting winning it here in Holland. My family and friends were all here, and that meant a lot. It also meant a lot to do it here for the entire Holland community and our team.”
Garcia won the 100 backstroke in a time of 53.37, giving her four straight Finals titles in that race to go with four straight in the 100 butterfly.
Krissy Harmon of Bay City Western wrapped up her high school career as a two-time Finals champion in the 500 freestyle. Harmon, who came in unseeded to win the 500 last year, was the top seed this time and swam a time of 4:55.38.
“I definitely felt a lot more pressure this year,” Harmon said. “Last year I barely had any pressure. This year I felt the pressure. It feels real good to win it again, and it is a relief. I’m really happy to end my high school career on a good note.”
Harmon will be continuing her career at Oakland University next year.
Another record fell in the diving competition, where Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central sophomore Erin Neely set an LP Division 2 Final record with a score of 450.75. Neely finished third at last year’s Final and came into this year’s event with the top score from the Regional round.
Rochester Adams sophomore Nicole Pape also enjoyed this year’s Final much more than her first trip last year. In 2013, Pape experienced a case of food poising during the Final. This year, she was at full strength and won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:02.74.
“It is so exciting to be here and win,” Pape said. “I felt like I was cheated last year, so I was so happy to make it back and be healthy.”
Pape also placed second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.08. Senior Celia Hoag of Birmingham Seaholm won the breaststroke with a time of 1:03.66.
PHOTOS: (Top) Bloomfield Hills Marian hoists its team championship trophy Saturday at Holland Aquatic Center. (Middle) Holland’s Taylor Garcia swims for the title in the 100 butterfly. (Below) Rochester Adams’ Nicole Pape completes her championship swim in the 200 freestyle. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
East Grand Rapids Dominates From Start to Finish in Earning Title 27
By
Brad Emons
Special for MHSAA.com
November 23, 2024
YPSILANTI – Winning MHSAA Finals championships has become standard operating procedure for the East Grand Rapids girls swimming & diving program.
The top-ranked Pioneers did it again Saturday, earning their fourth consecutive crown while giving coach Milton Briggs his 27th title in 50 years by scoring a whopping 407 points to outdistance Bloomfield Hills Marian (173) and St. Joseph (166) at Eastern Michigan University’s Jones Natatorium.
East Grand Rapids has now captured a total of 10 Division 3, 15 Class B and pair of D2 titles under Briggs, who has been at the helm for the Pioneers for a half-century.
“This group came in as a group; they stay together” Briggs said. “They allowed the freshmen to mature, and they accepted each other’s values. We just always made sure they were on track. There’s usually a lot of drama that goes on with a girls team. This one didn’t have any. They were absolutely wonderful to work with.”
The Pioneers swept all three relays, while senior Kate Simon and junior Ellery Chandler each figured in four firsts with two individual titles apiece.
Simon now has a combined four individual and eight relay titles over four years after sweeping the 100- and 200-yard freestyles in 50.6 seconds (meet record) and 1:48.19, respectively.
She was also the lead-off leg on the victorious 200 freestyle relay (1:36.24) followed by junior Nora Camfferman, senior Gracie Putnam and Chandler.
The quartet of Camfferman, sophomore Ivey Chu, senior Sarah Lincolnhol and Simon capped off the meet by holding off St. Joseph to win in the 400 freestyle relay (3:37.01).
“It was my goal going into the weekend. I’m happy with it,” Simon said. “It’s been so fun, I’ve had a lot of fun with my teammates and spent the weekend with my best friends, made lots of memories. I think our coach Coach Briggs really makes this team special. I’m honored to be coached by him. He’s really the best, and I look up to him so much.”
Meanwhile, Chandler took the 100 butterfly (56.07) and 100 breaststroke (1:02.86), while also teaming up with sophomore Meredith Sperling, sophomore Addie Hein and Putnam (1:46.40) in the 200 medley relay.
Chandler also had won the breaststroke last season.
“It was definitely so fun, especially being with the team,” Chandler said. “Everyone just has such a good time with everyone, and that’s what it makes it so much fun. There were a little bit of nerves, especially being close to different records and stuff. That’s probably challenging, going into those (to) try and see if we can get them.”
Hein also made her mark by winning the 200 individual medley in 2:06.71.
Another individual double winner was Holland Christian sophomore Camryn Siegers, who captured the 50 freestyle (23.19) while also repeating in the 100 backstroke (55.69).
She helped Holland Christian to a fifth-place team finish.
“Last year I got a gold and a silver, so I came back this year hoping to get two golds and I did that, so I’m very happy with it,” she said. “I still have some work to do, I have big meet in a couple of weeks, so I have another chance to get those.
“I think we did really well. We lost a lot of good seniors last year, but we really stepped up this year.”
Another swimmer who made her mark once again was Dearborn Divine Child junior Ella Dziobak, who defended her title in the 500 freestyle (5:12.74) after going a fast 5:03.24 in the prelims. She was also part of two relays that scored for the Falcons.
“I was happy to be able to score some points for DC even though it wasn’t as fast as I went yesterday,” Dziobak said. “I had some goals; I didn’t necessarily reach them, but I’m happy I scored some points and our relays did really well, so ... it’s exciting. I think people at school are going to be pretty excited.”
The meet’s other individual winner was Chelsea sophomore Anna McAllister, who improved upon last year’s fourth-place finish with a victory in the 1-meter diving as she scored 407.40 points. McAllister, who began competitive diving with she was age 7, was the favorite going in.
But the day belonged to the Pioneers, who entered as the prohibitive favorite after winning three straight team titles – in Division 3 last year and 2021, along with D2 in 2022. Coming out of Friday’s prelims, they were seeded first in all three relays and four individual races.
Briggs credits the team’s success to his two assistant coaches – Gwen Barnes, a former EGR swimmer in her fourth year, along with Josh Dolecki, who is in his second season.
With them, EGR has put together a successful year-round program.
“They swim all year; that’s the biggest thing,” Briggs said. “Josh (Dolecki) does our age-group program that keeps going the rest of the year. This win can be dedicated to our age-group swim team because most of the kids who scored came out of there. And those two girls (Simon and Chandler) will do anything to make the team better.”
PHOTOS (Top) East Grand Rapids’ Ellery Chandler swims the breaststroke during Friday’s preliminaries at Oakland University. (Middle) Dearborn Divine Child’s Ella Dziobak swims the 500 prelim. (Below) Chelsea’s Anna McAllister dives during Friday evening’s first rounds. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)