Rockford Rises to Edge East-Side Powers
December 7, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Those who follow high schools swimming & diving closely can appreciate even more what Rockford accomplished this fall.
The Rams won their first MHSAA team championship, a big deal on its own. But consider this as well:
Over the previous 40 Lower Peninsula Division 1 or Class A Finals in the sport, 37 had been won by teams from the southeast region of the state that traditionally draw from powerful feeder programs in the Ann Arbor (Club Wolverine) and Oakland County (Oakland Live Y’ers) areas.
Rockford – the Applebee’s Team of the Month for November – this fall joined Holland West Ottawa in 2012 and the Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central teams of 1993 and 1994 in breaking that hold on the MHSAA’s largest-schools championship.
The Rams edged eight-time title-winner Farmington Hills Mercy 249-239 to take the top spot Nov. 19 at Oakland University.
“We just have so much respect for what they’ve built,” said Rockford coach Tom Parks of the southeast Michigan powers. “It just seemed to me a long time ago, how is anybody going to upset that balance?
“We’ve had depth for a long time, and I think we could’ve done well against those teams in a dual meet. But at the state meet, it’s only the top-end kids. We’ve always had one or two top-end kids, but this year we had three very legit All-American kids and a diver who did extremely well, and a bunch of other kids that just filled in spots really well and made our relays strong.”
Senior Sydney McDowell was the team’s lone individual champion at the Division 1 meet, finishing first in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:01.94 – the fourth-fastest time in the event in MHSAA Finals history.
McDowell teamed with seniors Hunter Ignasiak and Meegan Snyman and junior Peyton Rayburn to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:34.37 – a full second faster than their preliminary time from the day before and two seconds faster than their seed time in the event. Their time also was the fourth-fastest in MHSAA Finals history, all divisions and classes combined, and set an LP Division 1 Finals record. (Girls swimming & diving switched to divisions from classes in 2002.)
As a team, Rockford broke nine school swim records and both diving records this fall. McDowell’s breaststroke time qualified for All-America honors automatically from the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association, and she also set the Rams' record with a 2:04.36 in the 200 individual medley, finishing fifth in that event at the MHSAA Final. Rayburn earned All-America with her Finals runner-up time of 50.19 seconds in the 100 freestyle (10th-fastest in Finals history) and also set a school record of 1:49.88 in finishing third in the 200 freestyle. Sophomore Morgan Kraus earned All-America honors with both her third-place finish in the backstroke (55.42) and her best time this season in the butterfly (54.40); she finished runner-up in the latter race at Oakland.
Freshman Masy Folcik swam a 1:04.36 in the breaststroke prelim to earn All-America consideration and went on to finish seventh in that event, and sophomore diver Elise Jendritz earned the same consideration with her top 11-dive score this season (a school-record 460.75) and went on to finish seventh at Oakland as well.
In addition to those individual standouts, the 200 freestyle relay earned All-America honors, as did the 400 freestyle relay of Ignasiak, Kraus, senior Sara Fredricks and Rayburn (second at the Final in 3:26.55) and the 200 medley relay of senior Kallen Wolfer, McDowell, Kraus and Snyman (fourth at the Final, with a prelim time 1:45.25). The 400 relay time was the ninth-fastest in Finals history.
“We knew the 500 and the backstroke, we knew that’s where Mercy was going to hurt us. Scoring out from the prelims, we were about 12 points down from being able to tie them (at that point), and we had a conversation about that,” Parks said. “We gained some, we lost some … but if we did get to that point, (we told our girls) if we want a shot at this we have to win the 200 free relay. … They swam out of their heads … and then the momentum just changed. Our backstroker went nuts, our two breaststrokers did well, and our 400 relay – we considered that our weak relay all year of the three, and their 3:31 (in the prelims) was the fastest we’ve ever been – and they dropped five seconds from the prelims to the Finals."
Parks, who took over the program in 2000 and also previously coached the Rockford boys, will graduate four seniors who set individual school records or were part of record-setting relays this fall. But he thinks this year’s momentum combined with improvement from his community’s age group program as well could lead to more title contention to come.
Leading to this fall’s championship, Rockford improved this decade from 14th in 2011, to sixth in 2012, fifth in 2013 and third in 2014 before dropping back only slightly to fourth in 2015.
“Knowing the ins and outs of our sport,” Parks said, “it was such an accomplishment, what we were able to do.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2016-17
October: Rochester girls golf - Report
September: Breckenridge football - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Rockford’s Sydney McDowell swims the breaststroke during the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final last month. (Middle) The Rams pose with their first MHSAA team championship trophy in the sport. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Grand Blanc Takes 'Total Team Effort' to Championship Level with SVL Title Clincher
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 12, 2025
Needing a “total team effort” was much more than generic coach speak this past week for the Grand Blanc girls swimming & diving team.
Twenty-one athletes scored at the Saginaw Valley League Championships, helping the Bobcats edge Midland Dow and claim the program’s first league title since 2020.
“I definitely think that’s what sets us apart from other teams – we have so many amazing swimmers,” Grand Blanc senior Riley McLeman said. “If we had two people in the championship heat, and so did Dow, we also had two people in the B and C finals, where they had none. Everyone played a role in this. Every single person on our team was important, and that was amazing to see.”
Quality depth has driven the Bobcats all season, and in the SVL meet, it was the difference as they overcame Dow placing the individual winner in eight of the meet’s 12 events. Grand Blanc did win two events and placed second in nine, but pulled away with its depth.
“We knew early on in the season that we were keeping a really great senior class and had a lot of great swimmers returning, and also that we were getting a great freshman class,” Grand Blanc coach Katherine Kuhn said. “We had our sights set on winning leagues, and we knew we had that depth and that speed. And they had to show out. It wasn’t just, ‘We have this depth, we’re good.’ They still had to really show out at the meet, and they did.”
The SVL meet scores all the way through 24 places, adding importance to the B and C finals.
So, for a swimmer like freshman Ava Christian, her personal-best times in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle races were for more than just pride as she contributed to the Grand Blanc cause with 33 points – all earned in B finals.
“There was kind of some pressure, but it was a good pressure,” Christian said. “Even people that weren’t scoring as highly still had a chance to make a difference. It put pressure on everyone, not just the top swimmers. I really feel like it shows how well we can work together and support each other.”
The top swimmers did their job, as well. Rory Grzymkowksi won the 100 backstroke, while Mallory Shaver, Norah Grosso, Peyton Folks and Sydney Folks won the 400 free relay. Shaver was second in the 200 and 500 freestyles, while McLeman was second in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley and Lila Brocker was second in the 100 backstroke. The 200 free and 200 medley relays also placed second.
Just as fun for that group of standouts was cheering on their teammates in those B and C finals, knowing how much they meant.
“It was great,” McLeman said. “Especially watching some of these freshmen that I didn’t know too well before the season, and even some of my best friends I’ve been swimming with for years getting to compete at a high level and having these amazing breakthrough races. It really got us hyped up and excited for our races.”
While building its depth, Grand Blanc has also been getting stronger at the top. Eight swimmers will be competing at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals on Nov. 21 and 22 at Oakland University. McLeman, Shaver, Sydney Folks, Grzymkowski and Brocker all have qualified in individual events, while Cameron Folks, Peyton Folks and Grosso will swim on relays. Diver Chloe Borton has a chance to make it nine qualifiers, as she will compete at her event Regional on Thursday.
It’s a number Kuhn said she hasn’t seen in her five years (three as an assistant, two as head coach) with the varsity program.
The goal for the Bobcats is to get as many athletes as possible to the final day of the season, something Shaver was able to do a year ago as a sophomore.
“There are some first-time people, and some people that know what to expect, but I definitely will share with the freshmen that they have to take it in and not let the stress take over, because they’ve trained for this,” Shaver said. “I think we have some talented girls that have been able to put in the work and want to represent Grand Blanc in a good way and just show off our talents.”
If the trend of this season holds, expect the Bobcats to reach that goal, as they’ve reached every one to this point.
McLeman said Kuhn broke the season into chunks for the team:
Win the Genesee County meet. Check.
Defeat Dow in a dual. Check.
Win the SVL. Check.
“It’s just been great; it’s been the most amazing season I’ve been part of,” McLeman said. “I could not ask for a better way to finish up my Grand Blanc swim career, to watch me and my best friends accomplish something we’ve worked for since our freshman year.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Grand Blanc’s Ava Christian swims a freestyle race this season. (Middle) The Bobcats stand for a trophy photo after clinching the Saginaw Valley League championship. (Below) Mallory Shaver, top, swims the butterfly and Riley McLeman swims the breaststroke. (Photos courtesy of the Grand Blanc girls swimming & diving program.)