Panthers Make History Close to Home
November 17, 2012
By Alan Babbitt
Special to Second Half
HOLLAND – Senior Colleen Vande Poel did not realize at first the added significance of her West Ottawa girls swimming & diving team’s achievement.
Saturday's breakthrough went far beyond the pool for the Panthers.
Forty years after Title IX legislation was passed, West Ottawa claimed its first team MHSAA championship in any girls sport by winning the Division 1 meet at Holland Community Aquatic Center.
The Panthers cruised to a first-place score of 298.5 points in their own backyard — approximately five miles from their high school. They finished 26.5 points ahead of runner-up Farmington Hills Mercy.
“It didn’t really hit me we were champs until they announced our names,” Vande Poel said. “It’s really exciting. I didn’t even know that we were the only ones. It feels super special knowing that in the future people know that if they work hard enough and have their minds set, they can do it.”
Vande Poel and her teammates made history in record-setting fashion.
The Panthers set eight school records, one Division 1 meet record and one pool record during the two-day Final. They also won three events: senior Dani VanderZwaag in 1-meter diving, the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-freestyle relay.
West Ottawa applied lessons throughout the season the Panthers learned the hard way during a disappointing seventh-place finish in 2011, VanderZwaag and coach Steve Bowyer said.
“I think we knew we needed to work hard this year, and we needed to change some things we did last year that weren’t working for us,” Vande Poel said. “We worked harder. We just wanted to do it. We came here and did that.”
West Ottawa started the meet fast on Saturday.
The Panthers won the 200 medley relay in a near meet-record time of 1 minute, 45.14 seconds from Vande Poel, Chelsea Rish, Anna Battistello and Caroline Fender.
They came within two one-hundredths of a second of the Final and school record they set during Friday’s preliminaries.
West Ottawa’s second winning performance came in the fifth event.
VanderZwaag, a junior, secured a first-place diving score of 425.45 points on the final dive — a successful back somersault with a 1½ twist.
“I knew I could do it. I just took a deep breath and did it,” VanderZwaag said. “This team means so much to me. I love them all. We just keep working hard this season, trying our hardest.”
The Panthers came in first again in the ninth event. Anna Babinec, Lauren DeShaw, Fender and Elizabeth Fris won the 200 freestyle relay with a school- and pool-record time of 1:35.58.
The performance gave West Ottawa a cushion against expected push from Farmington Hills Mercy in the backstroke, Bowyer said.
“I felt the 200 free, if we could win that relay, we would put ourselves in position to win the meet,” Bowyer said. “We went amazing fast in that relay.”
The Panthers then needed a seventh-place finish in the finale — the 400 freestyle relay — to clinch the team title.
They avoided any nerves and a costly disqualification, instead setting a school record with a second-place effort of 3:30.53 from Babinec, Vande Poel, DeShaw and Fris.
They finished behind only Saline’s American Armstrong-Grant, Melanie Schroeder, Allison Eppinga and Maddy Frost, who won in 3:29.13.
Bowyer, also named Division 1 Coach of the Year by his peers, saw the fruition of a goal that started one year ago.
“I think we learned if you don’t put in the work, you’re not going to be rewarded at the end of the year,” Bowyer said. “We worked hard last year, but quality yards weren’t there. The focus each and every day wasn’t there.
“If you want to have success, you have to make sure you put in the work every day. This year, our seniors came ready to do that.”
Waterford Kettering sophomore Maddie Wright was named Division 1 Swimmer of the Year by the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association after winning two events, setting one Division 2 meet record and one pool one.
“I couldn’t be happier with my swims,” Wright said. “It feels amazing. After a long season, it’s a good feeling to see it all paid off.”
Wright established a new Division 2 best in the 100 butterfly by going 54.13 during the finals. She came within 0.15 of a second of the all-division Finals record of Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Margaret Kelly from 2005.
Wright also won the 200 freestyle by four seconds — finishing in 1:48.01.
“Support from my teammates helped,” Wright said. “I picked it up a lot when I realized what I had to do to swim fast. (I) just practiced every day.”
Hudsonville senior Danielle Freeman also set a Division 1 meet record in the 50 freestyle by going 22.96.
Third-place Saline (266) and fourth-place Zeeland (150) also took home trophies. It was the final high school girls meet for longtime Zeeland coach Mike Torrey.
PHOTO: Holland West Ottawa senior Colleen Vande Poel swims one of her events Saturday in helping Holland West Ottawa to the LP Division 1 championship. (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.)