Pair Powers Cranbrook Team Title Hopes
November 10, 2020
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
BLOOMFIELD HILLS – The Oakland County girls swim & dive meet in October perfectly highlighted the luxury Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood enjoys this season.
Depth is always great for any team – but it’s also nice to have two swimmers capable of winning one-third of a meet’s events by themselves.
Cranbrook has that possibility each meet thanks to the presence of seniors Gwen Woodbury and Justine Murdock, who might be the best tandem on any team in the state this year, regardless of school size.
They also are future Big Ten college swimmers, with Woodbury heading to Ohio State and Murdock to Northwestern.
Needless to say, having a duo like that has made it a seamless transition for first-year Cranbrook coach Paul Ellis.
“It’s a great example for the rest of our team on what hard work and dedication to your craft can do,” Ellis said. “They go above and beyond day in and day out. It really sets the tone for our practices. It helps with the culture you want to establish.”
Woodbury is a freestyle whiz who captured the 100-yard (51.29) and 200-yard freestyles (1:37.96) at an Oakland County event that also featured Division 1 power Farmington Hills Mercy and Division 2 power Birmingham Seaholm.
Woodbury, also the reigning Division 3 Finals champion in the 100 freestyle, said she started swimming when she was 4 years old, although it wasn’t exactly love at first sight with the sport.
“I actually hated it,” she said. “I only went because my siblings swam.”
But as she grew older, Woodbury started to enjoy the sport more and discovered she was starting to get good at it.
By the time her freshman year at Cranbrook was over, which concluded with her winning the Finals titles in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle and Cranbrook winning the team title in Division 3, she realized swimming was something she wanted to do beyond high school.
“I started to realize that it’s not just the sport of swimming, it’s everything that comes with it and the little things people don’t notice that much that made me fall in love with it so much more,” Woodbury said. “The team camaraderie when we won states my freshman year was a feeling of total happiness knowing that all these people had worked so hard.”
Murdock is different than Woodbury in that she swims the backstroke and individual medley, but the same in that she took up the sport at an early age, and already has numerous county and state championship titles on her resume.
Murdock won the 200 IM (2:08.19) and the 100 backstroke (56.76) at this year’s county meet, the 100 backstroke at the Finals as a sophomore and both the 200 IM and 100 backstroke at last year’s Division 3 championship finale.
“I’ve always been swimming backstroke ever since I was little,” Murdock said. “I loved backstroke, so it was an easy choice for me to continue. In high school, while finding my other strengths through my freshman and sophomore years to see where I was clicking with secondary events, the 200 IM ended up being that event. It gives me time to have good focus throughout the meet lineup.”
Woodbury and Murdock, who are also important members of Cranbrook’s relay teams, have swam together since middle school and have been able to bond through their similar career paths in swimming.
Not only have they been able to push each other during practices and meets, but they’ve had each other as sounding boards on topics such as college visits and their future ambitions.
Both assuredly will follow how the other is doing in college once their high school days are over.
“It will be weird, but the great thing about being in the same conference is that we will be able to compete and be friends at the same time,” Murdock said.
Before worrying about college, there’s some unfinished business to take care of at Cranbrook.
After winning the Division 3 championship their freshman year, Cranbrook has been Finals runner-up to East Grand Rapids each of the past two.
Last year, Cranbrook finished just 11 points behind East Grand Rapids, and Woodbury and Murdock are focused on ending their careers celebrating another team title.
“That 11 points, all you could think about was, ‘What did I do wrong?” Woodbury said. ‘“If only I could have gone a second faster.’ Everyone was thinking that. We don’t want to feel that again.”
PHOTOS: Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood’s Gwen Woodbury launches into one of her races during the 2019 Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals at Oakland University. (Middle) Teammate Justine Murdock sets the pace on the way to winning the 200 IM at last year’s Finals. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Mercy Adds to Championship Streak with Must-Win Victory in Final Relay
By
Brad Emons
Special for MHSAA.com
November 22, 2025
YPSILANTI – It takes a really good angler to reel in those Farmington Hills Mercy Marlins.
Grosse Pointe South had them on the hook for most of Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 girls swimming & diving championship meet at Eastern Michigan University’s Jones Natatorium. South led 301-297 entering the final event – the 400-yard freestyle relay – and needed to win it to clinch the program’s first Finals championship.
But the Marlins were able to hit the wall first as Avery Tack, Campbell Shore, Lyla Collins and Ella Hafner clocked a 3:26.05 to earn Mercy its third-straight Division 2 title and 14th championship overall, by a slim margin of 337-335.
South’s 400 relay quartet of Whitney Handwork, Quinn Ryan, Mischa Eng and Caroline Bryan made a valiant effort, settling for second place in 3:27.68.
“I not only think we were physically ready, but also mentally, we had our momentum going and we were ready to swim fast because we knew who we are and we were able to finish strong because we were in a good spot,” said Hafner, who swam Mercy’s anchor leg. “We had done it before, and we knew we could do it again”
Rounding out the top five team finishers were Birmingham Seaholm (260.5), Birmingham Groves (155.5) and Ann Arbor Skyline (155).
“It was fun,” said Mercy coach Michael Venos, who notched his sixth Finals title. “This is my 42nd year coaching, and these are still my favorite meets. Win or lose they left it all in the pool, and as a coach that’s all you could ever ask for.”
With a two-point differential in the final standings between the top two teams, every point scored was pivotal.
“Quite honestly, I hoped we’d tie,” Venos said. “I don’t think anybody deserved to lose this meet today. I was really hoping for a tie, and I thought that would be really cool because those South girls swam lights out all year. And you don’t want to get to a meet like this and go home disappointed.
“It was one of those team efforts again. I don’t know if we could have done it without the whole team. I just felt the girls pulled each other up and kept scratching and clawing.”
Meanwhile, for the Blue Devils it was their fourth runner-up finish over the last seven years.
“It was as close as it could possibly get, the whole way,” Grosse Pointe South coach John Fodell said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them. We were down on psych sheet at one time by 20 points and we just kept battling back, battling back the whole meet. We pulled off some upsets. It goes back and forth. Just battle the whole time, and that’s all you can ask of the girls. It was the whole team. Everyone was trying to move up one spot.”
The teams battled back and forth throughout the day, with South taking a 294-285 lead after piling up a 49-4 advantage in the 100 backstroke thanks to a first from Ryan (56.08), a third by Eng and a sixth from Corinne Stencel.
In the final individual event of the day, Birmingham Groves’ Vivian Chase and Birmingham Seaholm’s Payton Garn tied for first in the 100 breaststroke with times of 1:02.76. Mercy got a seventh (12 points) from Clare Hafner while Nicole McEnroe earned a second in the consolation heat (seven points).
Coming out of Friday’s prelims slightly faster, South’s foursome of Eng, Nicole McEnroe, Stencel and sophomore Ryan Quinn opened Saturday with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay (1:45.22) with Seaholm placing second (1:46.96).
Skyline junior Adrienne Schadler then defended her title in the 200 freestyle and broke her own Division 2 Finals record in the process with a time of 1:46.85.
In one of the premier matchups of the meet, Mercy junior Avery Tack defended her title in the 200 individual medley (2:04.64) by holding off Bryan (2:05.59).
The 50 freestyle final proved to be a thriller as well as South senior Whitney Handiwork (23.24) defended her title by a razor thin margin over South Lyon’s Emma Klotz (23.26).
The 1-meter diving final saw Rochester Adams junior Morgan Rea score 431.75 points to defeat out Grand Rapids Northview’s Katelyn Allen (400.65), Skyline’s Teagan McCallion (383.05) and defending champion Aubrey Yarger of Hastings (379.75).
“My freshman year I actually failed to dive, and I got last,” Rea said. “And then last year I had a back injury, so this is my first year back. I had trust in my training, definitely, through all my good coaches.”
Rea came through with three clutch three dives.
“Probably after my back one-and-a-half half I had a pretty good feeling, definitely,” Rea said. “I had pretty good confidence in my abilities to dive.”
Reigning champion Bryan and Stencel went 1-2 in the 100 butterfly for the Blue Devils with times of 54.59 and 56.44, respectively, to close the gap on Mercy, 179-170.
After finishing runner-up in the 50 freestyle, Klotz then came through with a victory in the 100 freestyle (50.70) to edge Handwork (50.92) and Tack (52.01). Klotz, headed to Bowling Green State University, brought home her first individual Finals title after finishing runner-up three times.
“I swam a best time (in the 50), which was great, and Whitney (Handwork) had a great swim again, so it was a really fun race,” Klotz said. “It fueled me for the 100 more. The past few years it’s been hard to come back being second in the 50, but I thought my mindset was a lot better.”
The tide then turned back in favor of the Marlins as they outscored South, 37-1, in the 500 freestyle as Skyline’s Schadler completed her individual repeat double with a D2 Finals record time of 4:48.50. Mercy’s Hafner was runner-up (4:49.90), but the Marlins also got a big fourth place from Collins (5:06.69).
In the 200 freestyle relay, South (1:34.61) edged Mercy (1:34.92) for first. The Blue Devils’ foursome included Handwork, Stencel, McEnroe and Bryan.
All of it built toward the dramatic finish in the final race.
“She was amazing,” said Mercy senior Clare Hafner, referring to her sister’s anchor leg on the 400 freestyle relay. I think she had a lot of challenges to overcome today. It was insane how she pushed through it. I’m so proud of her.
“We slipped up a little bit on the second relay (200 freestyle), but everybody knew we needed to win that last one to win the meet and pulled it together. All of those girls did amazing. I’m so proud of them. Even Gabriell (Mannino) in her 100 back (13th with four points), she moved up a spot, which really helped.”
For Mercy’s Violet Schwartz, who swam the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays, along with the 100 butterfly (sixth), it was quite a send-off.
“As a senior in high school, what a better way to go out in a high school career with winning,” she said. “It’s really an honor. Just being with these girls is just the most amazing experience ever. They are so empowering. They all have the drive – that last relay was just amazing.”
Mercy senior 1-meter diver Sophia D’Orazio scored 11 points with an eighth-place.
“It was a little stressful, but having the whole team behind me really, really helped out, and I came out and finished my last dive to stick it and it was one of the best I’ve done,” she said. “It was really exhilarating today. This was my last diving meet today, and it was a great way to go out.”
And on the other side, it was bittersweet moment afterward for Handwork. Last year, Mercy scored 375.5 points, while South had 255, but this time the Blue Devils were right there.
“I think it’s just hard because of how hard we worked and how much we wanted it, but we are really still proud of ourselves,” Handwork said. “I mean, we closed a 120-point gap from last year, so there’s a lot to be proud of. I’m a senior, so I’ll come back and cheer them on. But yeah, I’m hoping they come back and swim even better.”
PHOTOS (Top) Farmington Hills Mercy’s Avery Tack swims to a championship in the 200 individual medley Saturday. (Middle) Caroline Bryan swims to first place in the 100 butterfly for Grosse Pointe South. (Below) Ann Arbor Skyline’s Adrienne Schadler races to a repeat and meet record in the 500 freestyle. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)