High School State Championships: Michigan Boys Divisions 1, 2 and 3

YPSILANTI/HOLLAND/ROCHESTER, Michigan, March 13. MICHIGAN'S high school season concluded March 9-10 with the Lower Peninsula boys competing in three divisions. Division 1 swimmers and divers met at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, the Division 2 meet was held at the Holland Aquatic Center, and Oakland University in Rochester was the site of the Division 3 portion of the championships.

Division 1
Saline High School took the team title with a 326.5 point total. Rockford finished in second with 233 points, with Birmingham Brother Rice third (176), Ann Arbor Pioneer fourth (143) and Zeeland fifth (128.5).

Saline's 400 free relay of juniors David Boland, Josh Ehrman and Adam Whitener, along with senior James Fisher, set a Division 1 record of 3:04.26. Another Division 1 relay record fell at the hands of Rockford's seniors Nick Dulak, Bryan Wasberg, Eric Chisholm plus sophomore Craig Wasburg. They put together a 1:24.34 in the 200 free relay. Saline's 200 medley relay of senior Tom Walls, Ehrman, Boland and junior Michael Bundas missed a relay record sweep by 2-hundredths with their 1:33.97.

Saline also gathered quite a few points with their three individual event champions. Ehrman set a state record 55.36 in the 100 breast. Whitener claimed victory in both the 100 and 200 free (45.37 and 1:39.11), and Boland took top honors in the 100 fly (49.62) and 200 IM (1:49.47).

Blake Howe, a Lansing senior, missed a Division 1 record by just 3-hundredths with his 50.83 effort in the 100 breast. Pioneer senior Seiji Osawa came in first in the 500 free in 4:32.22. Rockford's Chisholm splashed to a 20.76 in the 50 free. South Lyon senior Dan Girnoza collected 466.25 points for the diving title.

Division 2
Dexter's 200 free relay team of seniors Mark Brown, John Eber, Nate Kilian and Brennan Maisch set the only division record with their 1:24.66 in the 200 free relay. With top-three relay finishes plus depth, Dexter took home the championship trophy with 320 points.

Birmingham Groves, paced by double event winner Scott Crosthwaite, finished second in the team race with 298.5 points. Crosthwaite, a senior, posted times of 1:39.47 in the 200 free and 4:33.26 in the 500 free. Crosthwaite also anchored Groves' victorious 400 free relay (3:07.93) with seniors Steven Curry and Noah Zamler plus junior Tom Power. Groves' 200 medley relay of Zamler, sophomore Clark Lindsay, senior Sam Cusimano and senior John Hammond combined for a 1:36.20 triumph.

Third place went to Birmingham Seaholm, who collected 254 points. Junior Matt Wolkhamer claimed first place in the 100 breast (58.19). Holland combined for a fourth-place total of 200 points, led by junior Jeremiah Morren's winning time of 46.45 in the 100 free. Winning events for fifth place Midland Dow (131 points) were juniors Jackson Goethe in the 50 free (21.14) and Ben Martin in the 200 IM (1:53.03).

Okemos junior Adam Marsh's 50.83 was good for the 100 back victory, and Grosse Pointe South sophomore Patrick Jackson splashed to a 51.75 win in the 100 fly. Scott Jessup, a senior at Milford, was the top diver with 449.45 points.

Division 3
By just five points, St. Joseph defeated Grand Rapids Christian for the Division 3 team title (250-245). East Grand Rapids finished in third (228), with Hamilton not too far behind in fourth (213.5). Cranbrook-Kingswood's 169 points put them in fifth, just ahead of Bloomfield Hills Lahser (167).

Grand Rapids Christian's 400 free relay set the only division record with their 3:11.67. Junior Ryan Beezhold anchored seniors Mitchell Schroder, Jack Van Allsburg and John Swets.

East Grand Rapids junior Matt Hooper held off a determined Matthew Liu, a junior at Cranbrook, for a 58.17-58.24 victory in the 100 breast. Hooper's time was only 3-hundredths off the division record. Liu finished second in another close race, this time in the 200 IM. Liu finished just behind St. Joseph senior Aaron Moyer (1:54.09-1:54.19).

Ben Carter, a freshman at St. Joseph, nabbed wins in both the 50 and 100 free (21.34 and 46.67). Also heading to the top of the podium stand twice was Spring Lake senior Nick Zacek, who put together wins in the 200 free (1:41.78) and 100 fly (51.52).

Parker Cook-Weeks, a sophomore at Holland Christian, was tops in the 500 free (4:43.34). Cranbrook senior Alex Hogan's 53.94 in the 100 back put him on top in that event. The diving championship went to Marshall freshman Henry Swett (435.65 points).

The other relay wins went to St. Joseph (200 medley, 1:36.37), and Hamilton, who out-touched East Grand Rapids for first (200 free, 1:27.29-1:27.31). Grand Rapids Christian finished in third in 1:27.37.

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