Seaholm caps unbeaten season with D2 state title
The Birmingham Seaholm boys swimming and diving team won its first state championship since 2015 on Saturday, taking home the Division 2 title at Jenison High School.
The Maples scored a total of 267.5 points to finish in first, while Grosse Pointe South finished second with 222.
“We usually aren’t real bold with our expectations going into a season, but given the way last season ended and how crazy this year was, we wanted to set a lofty goal and that was a state championship,” Seaholm coach Tom Wyllie said.
“We put it out there from the start of the season and focused on working toward that. It was a nerve-wracking (state final) with so many great teams out there, but the team was really focused and motivated.”
Saturday’s championship is the eighth for the Seaholm program and fourth for head coach Tom Wyllie.
It also concluded an unbeaten season for the Maples, who collected the Oakland County championship earlier this year as well.
The Seaholm boys were also able to win a state championship in the same school year that the girls won a D2 championship.
“Since I have been coaching, this is the first time we went undefeated,” Wyllie said.
“To do it, and do it in such a challenging year, it’s really an extraordinary accomplishment for the boys. Also, to be able to match the girls accomplishment is really exciting as well.”
It was a complete team effort from Seaholm, as they had just one individual event winner. The Maples racked up a lot of top10 finishes throughout the day to cumulatively collect the title.
“It was definitely a complete team effort. The swimmers and divers across the board really made this happen. Our depth is what really pushed us through,” Wyllie said.
The Maples were strong in diving, placing three in the top 12. Included was senior Kam Liberman, who won the diving state title with 523.15 points.
Farmington senior Trevor Jones came away with the state title in the 100 freestyle with a time of 45.16.
Farmington also won the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:07.59 behind a team of Jared Visser, Andrew Pan, Sibi Raj and Trevor Jones.
Berkley senior Jack Hamilton won the state championship in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:50.90.
1. Birmingham Seaholm 267.5, 2. Grosse Pointe South 222, 3. U-D Jesuit 180,
4. Ann Arbor Skyline 179, 5. Dexter 153, 6. Farmington 141.5,
8. Birmingham Groves 110, 12. Birmingham Brother Rice 76, 15. Berkley 55, 19, Stoney Creek 34,
24. Royal Oak 21.5, 25. Walled Lake Northern 20, 26. Rochester Adams 18.
Top-8Individual Performances
200MEDLEY RELAY: 5. Seaholm (Cami Wilson, Tate Chutkow,
Bryce Liddell, Patrick Branch) 1:36.00; 8. Groves (Joey Stebbins, Angus MacDonald, Jackson Zako, Asa Allen) 1:37.20. 200INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY: 1.
Jack Hamilton (Berkley) 1:50.90; 2. Trevor Jones (Farmington) 1:51.54; 6. Angus MacDonald (Groves) 1:54.83. 50FREESTYLE: 6. Cami Wilson (Seaholm) 21.26; 8. Jared Visser (Farmington) 21.27.
1M DIVING: 1. Kam Liberman (Seaholm) 523.15; 4. SooDong Kim (Adams) 448.75. 100BUTTERFLY: 3. Cami Wilson (Seaholm) 50.30; 6. Bryce Liddell (Seaholm) 50.95. 100FREESTYLE: 1. Trevor Jones (Farmington) 45.16; 2. Conner Kulka (Brother Rice) 45.71; 6. Tom Girdler (Seaholm) 46.52. 500FREESTYLE: 3. Angus MacDonald (Groves) 4:38.88; 5. Sean Diffenderfer (WL Northern) 4:43.61; 6. Joe Novak (Seaholm) 4:44.52; 7. Jack Cicco (Stoney Creek) 4:46.92.
200FREESTYLE RELAY: 3. Seaholm (Cami Wilson, Patrick Branch, Owen O’Neill, Tom Girdler) 1:25.61.
100 BACKSTROKE: 2. Jack Hamilton (Berkley) 49.63. 100BREASTSTROKE: 2. Tom Girdler (Seaholm) 55.56; 5. Elijah Venos (Brother Rice) 57.28; 6. Tate Chutkow (Seaholm) 57.60. 400FREESTYLE RELAY: 1. Farmington (Jared Visser, Andrew Pan, Sibi Raj, Trevor Jones) 3:07.59; 3. Seaholm (Bryce Liddell, Patrick Branch, Owen O’Neill, Tom Girdler) 3:09.26; 6. Groves (Jackson Zako, Angus MacDonald, Billy Harvey, Ian Duncan) 3:12.46; 7. Birmingham Brother Rice (Conner Kulka, Aidan Devine, Richard Pifer,
Elijah Venos) 3:13.77.
Catholic Central takes fourth in D1
The Detroit Catholic Central swim team finished fourth in the Division 1state finals at Hudsonville High School on Saturday. The Shamrocks scored a total of 225for fourth, while Ann Arbor Pioneer swam away with the title, scoring a total of 369. Rochester placed seventh on the day thanks in part to junior Jack VanHowe. He won the individual state championship in the 100 backstroke with a time of 49.35.
Huron Valley United finished
17th on the day, but had junior Fletcher Smith win the state title in the 100butterfly with a time of 50.40.
Team Results: 1. Ann Arbor Pioneer 369, 2. Holland West Ottawa 233.5, 3. Saline 230, 4. Detroit Catholic Central 225, 5. Northville 209, 7. Rochester 98,
9. Troy 91, 12. Novi 51, 13. Waterford Kettering 44, 17. Huron Valley United 32, 19. Oxford 30,
20. Lake Orion 28, 25. South Lyon 15, 26. Bloomfield Hills 14. Top-8Individual Performances 200MEDLEY RELAY: 3. Detroit Catholic Central (Dallas Fisher, Joey Dombkowski, Nolan Gresens, Matthew Kozma) 1:32.80; 4. Rochester (Jack VanHowe, Joseph Sun, Spencer English, John Flater) 1:33.80;
8. Troy (Joshua Walters, Ryan Smalley, Brady Buten, Colby Dimsdale) 1:36.88. 200INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY: 2. Matthew Kozma (DCC) 1:52.54;
5. Ryan Smalley (Troy) 1:55.23;
6. Christian Dunaitis (DCC) 1:55.30.
50FREESTYLE: 2. Dane Herrick (Lake Orion) 21.13; 5. John Flater (Rochester) 21.54; 6. Faustas Garbenis (Kettering) 21.56. 100BUTTERFLY: 1. Fletcher Smith (Huron Valley) 50.40; 2. Nolan Gresens (DCC) 50.56. 100FREESTYLE: 2. Jack VanHowe (Rochester) 46.51; 4. Faustas Garbenis (Kettering) 46.55; 5. Colby Dimsdale (Troy) 46.96.
200FREESTYLE RELAY: 7. Detroit Catholic Central (Nolan Gresens, Kilian Bishop, Joey Dombkowski, Christian Dunaitis) 1:27.74.
100 BACKSTROKE: 1. Jack VanHowe (Rochester) 49.35; 4. Nolan Gresens (DCC) 51.65; 5. Matthew Kozma (DCC) 51.80; 6. Dallas Fisher (DCC) 52.50.
100 BREASTROKE: 5. Christian Dunaitis (DCC) 57.53; 6. Joey Dombkowski (DCC) 57.55; 7. Ryan Smalley (Troy) 57.93; 8. Jameson Kanary (Bloomfield Hills) 58.32.
400FREESTYLE RELAY: 5. Detroit Catholic Central (Matthew Kozma, Kilian Bishop, Christian Dunaitis, Dallas Fisher) 3:09.92;
8. Troy (Colby Dimsdale, Ryan Aretha, Joshua Walters, Ryan Smalley) 3:13.98.
The Cranbrook-Kingswood swim team finished third in Saturday’s Division 3 state finals at the Holland Aquatic Center.
The Cranes scored 194 points for third, while East Grand Rapids won the meet with 308.
Cranbrook opened the day by winning the state title in the 200 medley relay with a team of Colin Zexter, Ethan Schwab, Josh Zexter and Andrew Zhang. The team swam in a time of 1:34.97.
Detroit Country Day senior Jacob Ryan won the state title in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.58. The Yellowjackets finished 11th as a team with 81 points.
1. East Grand Rapids 308, 2. Holland Christian 218.5, 3. Cranbrook-Kingswood 194, 4. Spring Lake 186, 5. Mason 162, 11. Detroit Country Day 81, 14. Notre Dame Prep 57.5.
Top-8Individual Performances
200MEDLEY RELAY: 1. Cranbrook (Colin Zexter, Ethan Schwab, Josh Zexter, Andrew Zhang) 1:34.97; 6. Detroit Country Day (Michael Jonna, Jacob Ryan, Mayer Krieger, Caden Kuang) 1:38.40.
200 FREESTYLE: 5. Griffin Gushman (NDP) 1:44.31. 200INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY: 5. Josh Zexter (Cranbrook) 1:58.07. 50FREESTYLE: 1. Jacob Ryan (DCD) 20.58.
100BUTTERFLY: 5. Josh Zexter (Cranbrook) 51.91. 100FREESTYLE: 2. Jacob Ryan (DCD) 45.92.
500FREESTYLE: 2. Ethan Schwab (Cranbrook) 4:35.14; 3. Griffin Gushman (NDP) 4:41.64; 8. Ben Angileri (Cranbrook) 4:49.18. 100 BACKSTROKE: 5. Andrew Zhang (Cranbrook) 53.51.
100 BREASTSTROKE: 2. Ethan Schwab (Cranbrook) 55.46. 400FREESTYLE RELAY: 5. Cranbrook (James Wiater, Ben Angileri, Josh Zexter, Ethan Schwab) 3:14.76.
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