Roell's Dominating Run Keys Sentinels' Surge to 5th-Straight UP Finals Championship
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
February 21, 2026
MARQUETTE — Marquette junior Kaytlin Roell said she was a little nervous going into Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Swimming & Diving Finals. She didn’t mention it being the biggest meet of the year – rather the two snow days leading up to such a massive event meant two days of no training.
She was determined to keep her mind where it needed to be, something she did from start to finish. She edged last year’s champion, Allison Deuter, by six hundredths of a second in the 50-yard freestyle and later won the 100 butterfly while also helping Marquette to first-place finishes in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
“Last year wasn’t my greatest year,” Roell said. “I think I could have done better. This year, I put my mind to it.”
Roell had some big wins, and so did her team. The Sentinels won their fifth-straight U.P. title, 311-226.5 over runner-up Houghton.
“When I first stepped out for my first race, the 50 free, I focused, and I felt ready and I felt I spent this whole year training for this moment,” Roell said. She finished in 25.74 seconds. “When I came in and I won, I was ecstatic. I was so happy since I haven’t really had the chance to be on the podium, on the top individually, since my freshman year.”
The day got better.
“When I swam my 100 fly, I went crazy. I shaved almost three seconds off my personal best,” Roell said. Her time of 1:00.93 put her just three hundredths of a second from the school record, something she can shoot for as a senior.
“That 100 butterfly was electric,” Marquette coach Nathan McFarren said.
She swam the 50-yard opening leg of the 200 relay faster than she finished in the individual event at 25.66 seconds.
“Having everybody put in the work together and winning the 200 free was amazing. It brought so much joy to me,” she said. The relay’s winning time was 1:46.96.
The Sentinels beat Houghton in the 400 in 4:00.70 despite being seeded behind the Gremlins.
“The thing about Kaytlin is she’s matured so much,” McFarren said. “She’s become a great team player, and she works her butt off.”
Deuter, a sophomore, repeated as a U.P. champion, but not in the 50 like last year. After finishing second in that race by such a close margin, she went out and won the 100 freestyle in 57.33 seconds.
“It just felt good winning finally,” she said, “because all my early mornings and late nights I put in swimming and lifting and whatnot finally paid off.”
Her coach, Jim Lindstrom, said she doesn’t miss a practice. Even if school is canceled and they can’t have practice, she goes to the Y anyway.
“She’s been swimming since she was 6 years old,” he said. “She’s really determined.”
And she’s an overall good swimmer, he said. She could have won an individual medley race if the team didn’t need her to be in the 50 freestyle, he said.
She also helped the 200 medley relay to a win (1:59.31).
Marquette’s Hailee LaCombe referenced the time she put in as well after she won the 100 backstroke in 1:09.58.
“I’m a senior, so it’s my last meet. I’ve been swimming for 13 years,” she said. “I was just thinking of making sure all my hard work throughout the year got put into those races.”
She beat teammate Lola Sved by just over a second.
“I had a good start and everything,” LaCombe said. “My turns were good, my underwater, I tried to do good breakouts and everything.”
Sault Ste. Marie sophomore Isabeau Woodard won the 100 breaststroke in 1:16.32.
“When I got in the water, my goggles instantly filled with water,” she said.
She remembered thinking she should have gone without the cap and goggles. “It would have been so much better,” Woodard added. “I don’t even remember the last 25 (yards). I remember I couldn’t breathe and I was scared.”
She couldn’t believe her time. She didn’t even know she won.
“I found out when my sister texted. She was like, ‘Oh, by the way, you got first place,’” Woodard said.
Being a U.P. champion is a “new feeling,” she said. “Last year, I did not do so hot. I was fifth last year, I think. It’s really surreal.”
Gladstone’s Irene Neumeier won the 200 freestyle in 2:06.73, Westwood’s Kamryn LaVigne took first in the 200 IM (2:30.96), and Houghton’s Ava Keteri won the 500 freestyle (6:08.42).
McFarren’s daughter, Logan, took second in the 100 and 200 freestyle events.
“This one was extra special to me,” he said. “She put in so much work this year, and it paid off.”
PHOTOS (Top) Marquette celebrates its victory Saturday in the 200 freestyle relay. (Middle) The Sentinels’ Kaytlin Roell powers to a win in the 100 butterfly. (Photos by Jarvinen Photos. Link will be added when gallery is posted.)
Pair of Relay Champs Set Pace as Pioneer Runs Finals Win Streak to 5
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
November 23, 2024
HOLLAND – The end of a high school career couldn’t have been scripted any better for Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Reese Heidenreich.
The senior standout swam the first leg of the final event of her career and set the tone in a 400-yard freestyle relay victory.
It was the exclamation point on a day that saw the Pioneers dominate once again en route to a fifth-straight Lower Peninsula Division 1 swimming & diving championship at Holland Aquatic Center.
"An amazing way to cap off my career,” Heidenreich said. “It’s bittersweet because it's my last year, but I wouldn't want to end it any other way.”
Pioneer finished with an astounding 386 points to finish well ahead of runner-up Jenison (222). Northville (165) placed third and Grand Haven (142) was fourth.
It’s the second-longest title streak in program history behind the 2000-08 teams that won nine consecutive Finals.
“We were favored coming in and favored all season, but the girls weren't complacent and they didn't take anything for granted,” Pioneer coach Stefanie Kerska said. “They showed up every single day as if they were the underdogs, and I really respect their work ethic and how they conducted themselves in and out of the pool each day.”
Pioneer’s supreme depth was on full display as it didn’t have an individual event winner.
The Pioneers did, however, also win the 200 freestyle relay with the foursome of Heidenreich, Katelyn Van Ryn, Ursula Ott and Meg Pinkerton.
“We really come together in relays, and that’s what makes us our best and that’s where we shine,” Heidenreich said. “We can lean on each other and support each other. The 400 relay at the end was the highlight of the day because it took so much grit and teamwork to pull that out.”
Ott said the team takes pride in continuing to live up to the tradition of Pioneer swimming.
“It just pushes us to be better and get more and more state titles under our belt,” she said. “This team is truly amazing, and I love everyone on it. I think just the closeness is what drives us to be our best. We just always come together and support each other, and it's just really sweet and amazing to see.”
In addition to its three relays and three divers, Pioneer had 26 individual entries seeded to score (among the top 16 in their events).
“I’ve been doing this for a really long time and I can't remember a more fun or functional team that I've worked with,” Kerska said. “It’s the culture, it's the tradition and it’s the senior leadership. They just want it for each other so badly, and it's never about them. It’s only about the team and the program, and you go a long way when you have kids like that.”
The win was a culmination of a work ethic that is second to none.
“This victory is just a testament to the hard work of every single person on this team as well as the coaches that pour so much effort and energy into this program,” Heidenreich said. “To see us come out on top again just really validates all the hard work.”
Jenison tied for its highest finish in school history after also placing runner-up in Division 2 two years ago.
“To come up a division and be second here is just a testament to how awesome these girls swam and dove the last two days,” Jenison coach Kyle Stumpf said. “This was the best Day 2 I’ve been a part of in 10 years, and every single spot was held or moved up.
“We knew Pioneer was going to be loaded and have lots of depth, so you can only control what you can control. And I told the girls we can't control how other teams swim, so let's just swim and dive the best we can and see where the chips fall. It was awesome to see their hard work all season pay off, and this was a great team to coach.”
Senior Sophia Umstead led the Wildcats and capped a stellar high school career with two more individual titles, in the 200 individual medley (1:59.98) and 100 breaststroke (1:00.72).
She also was a member of the winning 200 medley relay and finished her career with six individual and five relay championships.
“It’s been an amazing four years, and I’ve had such a great experience swimming with this team,” Umstead said. “I don't know what I would've done without Jenison swimming, and I’m very happy to come out here and swim fast with my team. It was a great experience.”
West Bloomfield junior Elizabeth Eichbrecht repeated as champion in the 200 freestyle (1:48:48) and 500 freestyle (4:51.87) events, while Zeeland junior Madison Ensing won the 50 freestyle (22.94) and 100 freestyle (50.11).
West Ottawa’s Mackenzie Baldwin took top honors in the 100 backstroke, while Kalamazoo Central’s Maggie Spybrook finished first in the 100 butterfly.
Oxford senior Tristan Krajcarski won the diving portion of the meet with a final score of 432.60.
PHOTOS (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Ursula Ott swims the breaststroke during Saturday’s Division 1 Finals at Holland Aquatic Center. (Middle) A Jenison swimmer competes during the 200 medley relay. (Below) Racers power through the backstroke Saturday. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)