Seaholm Runs Title Streak to 3, Standout Pair Win Multiple Events
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
November 20, 2021
ROCHESTER – After Fenton senior Gracie Olsen won the Lower Peninsula Division 2 title in the 200-yard individual medley two years ago as a sophomore, she fell just short of repeating as a junior, finishing second in that event.
Needless to say, that added some motivation on top of the energy she already had competing at the Finals in the first place.
“This is the most exciting meet of the year, and that includes club swimming and everything,” said Olsen, who will swim in college for Indiana. “I think it has the most energy. This whole thing in general motivates me the most.”
Olsen reclaimed her title in the 200 IM with a time of 2:01.58, but she did more than that.
Olsen also won the 100 Butterfly in a time of 54.19, winning that event for the third time and finishing off her high school career with six individual Finals titles.
“I had no idea this would happen,” Olsen said. “I think everything that happened the last four years led up to this.”
Olsen wasn’t alone in winning two individual titles.
Portage Northern junior Hannah Williams won the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:50.28, then won the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:03.76.
“Coming in, I just wanted to swim my best,” Williams said. “I knew I would really be proud of myself if I left everything out in the pool.”
While Olsen and Williams were the individual standouts of the day, the best team was once again Birmingham Seaholm.
The Maples easily won their third-straight Finals title and fourth in the past six years, earning 314.5 points.
Grosse Pointe South was second with 241 points, while Grand Rapids Northview was third with 191 points.
Seaholm became the first team in Division 2 to win three straight titles since Holland did so from 2011-13.
Seaholm head coach Karl Hodgson said there actually was a different dynamic trying to win three in a row as opposed to two consecutive.
“It’s just more difficult,” Hodgson said. “It gets harder each time and is a relief. It feels great.”
As expected, Seaholm swept the three relay events.
While depth and team achievement have been at the forefront of Seaholm’s success the past three years, the Maples did have an individual that stood out more than most this fall.
Junior Samantha Clifford won the 100 freestyle in a time of 51.02 and was second in the 200 freestyle behind Williams.
Clifford also anchored winning teams for the Maples in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
Portage Northern had another individual winner at the meet besides Williams. Angelina Baker set an LPD2 Finals record in the 500 freestyle, with a time of 4:54.97.
The 50 freestyle saw a rare tie for first, with Jenison sophomore Grace Albrecht and Ann Arbor Skyline senior Claire Kozma touching with identical times of 23.94.
Lily Witte of Dexter won diving with 503.55 points and also placed in the 50 freestyle, finishing 16th.
In the 100 backstroke, Skyline junior Lily Cleason won in a time of 55.77.
PHOTOS by High School Sports Scene.
Sentinels Girls Follow Super Sophomore to 4th-Straight Championship
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
February 15, 2025
MARQUETTE — Olive Krueger is just a sophomore. But she’s the one who leads by example for Marquette’s girls swimming & diving team.
Be in the pool on time. Finish the set. Do the little things to be a winning team.
It translates into success for her and her team. Marquette won its fourth-straight Upper Peninsula Finals championship Saturday, and Krueger was a part of four U.P. titles – two individually and two relays – to make it six for her young career.
Krueger finished first in a sprint race, the 100-yard freestyle (57.42), and the grueling 500 freestyle (5:40.30). She was also a part of the 200 medley relay that edged Kingsford by 15 hundredths of a second for the win in 1:59.32 and the 200 freestyle relay (1:46.51) that won more comfortably.
“Olive is a year-round swimmer, but she also never skips a set,” Marquette coach Nathan McFarren said. “She’s at practice — she wants more, give me more. The thing that’s special about Olive, too, is the fact she can win a 100 freestyle and a 500 freestyle not long after that. Just tough.
“But also a gentler approach. You know what, I’m going to get in the water and I want you guys to do the same thing. … That’s the one thing that we’ve always had in a leader with Olive as a sophomore, which is a huge thing.”
Krueger said she actually doesn’t really like the sprints, but she was happy how that race turned out as she finished ahead of Kingsford’s Sierra Scott for the win.
“I had really good competition – the girl next to me, she’s really fast, that was nice,” Krueger said.
The medley relay was a hard-fought victory for Marquette.
“We weren’t sure what it was going to look like against Kingsford because those Kingsford girls are very competitive and they brought their A game today,” McFarren said.
Marquette won the team championship, its 29th overall, with 347 points, well ahead of runner-up Kingsford with 252. Houghton was third and Gladstone fourth.
This was the smallest girls, and boys, teams that McFarren has had during his uber-successful tenure at Marquette that now includes a combined total of 19 Finals championships. The Sentinels actually weren’t able to slot swimmers in all the spots they could have in the girls meet. But they were able to win anyway with their still superior depth.
“To have three individuals in each event really gives us a leg up on the rest of the competition,” he said.
They had first-place power Saturday, too, in addition to Krueger’s successes. Nathan’s daughter Logan McFarren won the 200 freestyle (2:13.57), and Sophie Hausmann took first in diving (221.80 final score). Both were also part of the winning 200 freestyle relay team with McFarren also a member of the 200 medley team that finished first.
Coach McFarren was also a proud dad.
“That 200 was a great performance,” he said, pointing out Logan had only recently come out of concussion protocol. “To retrain, get back up and then bring her back down was a little bit of a battle.”
It certainly wasn’t easy.
“Especially in the 100 back because of the concussion, it took a lot in the mind. I feel like it was very hard to go back into it and I hadn’t (swam) it since I had gotten the concussion,” said Logan McFarren, who took second in that race. “It turned out well. I dropped a lot of time.”
The junior was seeded first in the 200 free. She was still nervous going into it, but she was able to get the victory.
“It was nerve-wracking because the girl next to me was only a few seconds behind me,” McFarren said. “It was a good win. I was happy to start my first two races off with a win.”
Gladstone junior Irene Neumeier had a big day as well, finishing first in the 100 butterfly (1:02.78) and 100 backstroke (1:05.96).
“The 100 fly was pretty good,” she said. “I was pretty nervous because I was ranked third, and I also have a sinus infection. So I was a little nervous for that, but I knew after the first 50, I would be able to push through.”
Scott won a race of her own, the 200 IM (2:29.64). Kingsford’s Ella McLean finished fastest in the 100 backstroke (1:13.66). Their freshman teammate, Allison Deuter, took first in the 50 freestyle (25.43) despite being seeded second.
“I was just trying to go fast, and get No. 1 as a freshman. It’s great,” she said. “I was expecting to win, and I’m glad I did. It feels awesome knowing I still have three more years of this.”
Scott and Deuter were also members of Kingsford’s winning 400 freestyle relay (4:01.43).
PHOTOS (Top) Marquette's Olive Krueger swims to a victory in the 100-yard freestyle Saturday. (Middle) Finalists including Marquette's Logan McFerren launch into the backstroke. (Below) Marquette's Sophie Hausmann begins a dive during Friday's competition. (Photos by Daryl T. Jarvinen. Click for more.)