Redettes Continue U.P. Finals Domination
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
February 21, 2015
MARQUETTE — The Marquette girls put together a solid performance in Saturday’s MHSAA Upper Peninsula Swimming and Diving Finals, retaining their title with 315 points.
The Redettes repeated as champions and claimed their 13th title over the last 14 seasons.
They were followed by Gladstone with 269 points and Houghton with 223 in their home pool.
Marquette senior Janelle Carroll won the 500-yard freestyle race in five minutes, 48.18 seconds, and helped the Redettes capture the 200 and 400 freestyle relays in 1:49.45 and 3:57.27, respectively, She was also runner-up to senior teammate Logan Vear in 200 freestyle.
“Janelle had been sick for two weeks and was injured during the season, but she really burned it up today,” said Marquette coach Nathan McFarren. “We’re going to miss our seniors. They’re going to be tough to replace.”
Vear was clocked in 2:06.66 in the 200 freestyle, with Carroll at 2:07.58.
Also winning for Marquette were sophomores Lyndsey Welch in the 200 individual medley (2:24.54) and Lauren Rotundo in 100 breaststroke (1:13.85).
Gladstone sophomore Katie Stephenson won the 100 backstroke in 1:04.15 and was runner-up in the 50 freestyle (25.87).
“I’ve been working a lot on starts,” said Stephenson, who led off the winning 200 medley relay. “I finally got beat after two years in the 50 freestyle, which just motivated me more for the 100. I just pushed myself harder in backstroke.”
Junior Jesse Flath, who anchored Gladstone’s winning relay, added second places in the 100 freestyle (57.82) and 200 IM (2:32.41).
Gladstone coach Tom Desy said he was pleased with the team’s performance.
“This was a very nice performance by both of our teams,” he added. “We knew it’d be tough to beat Marquette. Our kids did very well.”
Rudyard sophomore Trista MacDowell was a double winner, taking the 50 freestyle (25.67) and the 100 (57.43).
Houghton senior Lauren Jackson retained her diving title Friday with 169.65 points, more then 11 points better than the remainder of the field.
“I just tried to keep calm,” said Jackson, who plans to attend Northwest Michigan College in Traverse City this fall. “I went in thinking it’d be OK. Then, I watched some of the other kids dive (in warm-ups) and thought maybe my position wasn’t as solid as I thought. My first dive was one of my more iffy dives. But when I went up on my second dive, I thought it was there. My confidence came back.”
Saturday’s performance was the best this season for Houghton, according to coach Erik Johnson.
“The girls put forth their best effort and scored more points than I thought they would,” he said. “Several of our girls did well in IM and (100) butterfly. We have a lot of developing talent on both teams. We’re looking forward to next year. We had a very good day overall.”
Manistique had a champion in junior Allison Halpin, who took the 100 butterfly in 1:04 and placed third in the 100 freestyle in a school-record 58.1 seconds.
“I dropped seven seconds in 100 fly,” she said. “I’m surprised I was able to do that. The atmosphere up here pumps you up and it definitely helps when you know what to expect. The competition in 100 free was tougher this year and having Gladstone here makes the competition that much better. The races were back-to-back, and I was a little tired in freestyle. But I’m still happy with what I did.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Racers leave the blocks during Saturday's MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals at Marquette High School. (Middle) A competitor swims toward the finish. (Click to see more from Jarvinen Photos.)
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.)