#TBT: Groves Claims 1st Swim & Dive Title
September 12, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The 1987 and 1988 Lower Peninsula Class A Finals were two of the most closely-contested in MHSAA Girls Swimming & Diving history. And after falling just short in 1987, Birmingham Groves edged the rest to win its first championship in the sport in 1988.
Groves scored 150 points in 1987 at Michigan State University's McCaffree Pool, just seven fewer than champion Ann Arbor Pioneer. But although individual butterfly champion Janet Caraher graduated the following spring, Groves took that last step up the podium at MSU the next fall with 117 points – six more than runner-up Birmingham Seaholm, 12 more than Midland Dow and 32 more than distant fourth-place Pioneer.
Groves was paced by a pair of champions: senior sprinter Laura Fischer won both the 50 and 100-yard freestyles after finishing second and fifth in those races, respectively, in 1987. Senior Becky Callam also improved from second in 1987 to first in diving after also winning the event at the 1986 Final. The team's swimmers were coached by Darin Abbasse and its divers by Dave Eddy.
The Falcons went on to win four straight Division 2 titles from 2003-06 under coach Chris Tennyson, and remain a power, finishing fourth in Division 2 last fall.
Click to read all of the names that go with the photo above.
Performance of the Week: Sterling Heights Stevenson's Olivia Buford
October 9, 2026
Olivia Buford ♦ Sterling Heights Stevenson
Senior ♦ Swimming
Buford was named Swimmer of the Meet at the Macomb County Championships after setting meet and Macomb L'Anse Creuse North pool records in the 50-yard freestyle (23.95 seconds) and also winning the 100 butterfly (58.75) by more than five seconds. Her 50 time ranks fifth on the state's top times list this season, and her butterfly time ranks 17th for that race.
A two-time MHSAA Finals racer, Buford finished 10th in the 50 a year ago in Lower Peninsula Division 1 and also qualified in the butterfly in 2025. She's qualified for both races again this fall and is about a second off securing a Finals cut time in the 100 backstroke as well. Buford is deciding where she'll attend college but would like to continue swimming and intends to pursue a degree in pre-medical studies with aspirations of becoming a doctor.
@mhsaasports 🏊♀️POW: Olivia Buford #Stevenson #Swimmer #MeetRecord #PerformanceOfTheWeek #MHSAA ♬ original sound - MHSAA
@mhsaasports 🏊♀️POW: Olivia Buford #TikTalk #FunFacts #fyp #PerformanceOfTheWeek #MHSAA ♬ original sound - MHSAA
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Past 2026-27 honorees
Oct. 2: Sophia McCollum, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer - Read
Sept. 25: Jenna Middleton, Kingsley volleyball - Read
Sept. 18: Caden Livermore, Grandville cross country - Read
(Photos courtesy of the Sterling Heights Stevenson athletic department.)