Holland Christian swims to second in state for first time since 1997
HOLLAND - The Holland Christian girls swimming and diving team knew a state championship was possible.
But the Maroons also knew it wouldn't be easy, especially with a Bloomfield Hills Marian team ready to close the meet with its strongest events.
Marian's closing speed was enough to overtake the Maroons and claim the Division 3 state championship on Saturday at Holland Community Aquatic Center.
That didn't make it a less historic performance for the Maroons. Holland Christian finished second at the state meet for the first time since 1997.
"We talked about being content with whatever we walked away with. Today, this is what we had and they just happened to have some really talented girls who swam really well this weekend," Holland Christian coach Lisa Myrick said. "They had more than we had today, and that is OK.
"We still finished second, which is a really big deal. I want them to be proud of themselves for everything they did this season. We continued to shoot for it and didn't give up and got the back-half done - it just wasn't enough."
Marian won the event with 245 points. Holland Christian was second with 230.5, followed by Milan (208), Adrian (154.5), Grand Rapids Christian (148.5), Wayland (130), Cranbrook Kingswood (128.5), Notre Dame Prep (90), Detroit Country Day (87) and Dundee (82) rounded out the top 10.
"We are happy. It has been since coach's sophomore year that we got second. It is still a very big deal. We earned it and worked our best for it," Holland Christian senior Claire DeKievit said. "We weren't very happy with the front half of the meet. We knew we had a strong back half, and we knew we had to kick it in."
Despite a few events where Holland Christian swimmers finished lower than their preliminary seeds, the Maroons surged back into the meet in the back half and led Marian 134.5-133 after the 500 freestyle.
"We controlled the things we can control and couldn't control what they did," Myrick said.
Marian edged the Maroons in the 200 freestyle relay and took a 173-168.5 lead with three events to go.
After the 100 backstroke, Marian led 188-185.5, then won the 100 breaststroke to put the title out of reach barring a disqualification in the final relay.
Holland Christian's Lilly Ryden, Claire DeKievit, Annie Petrak and Eden Siegers took second in the 200 medley relay.
Ryden, DeKievit, Emily Asselin and Maria Heeres took second in the 200 freestyle relay (1:39.55).
Asselin, Petrak, Siegers and Heeres finished fourth in the 400 free relay (3:42.18).
DeKievit finished fourth int he 100 breaststroke (1:08.24).
Siegers took 11th in the 200 freestyle (2:01.77). DeKievit was 12th in the 200 IM (2:19.39) and Maddie Brink was 14th (2:20.97).
Maria Heeres finished fifth in the 50 freestyle (24.72). Lilly Ryden was 11th (25.07) and Emily Asselin was 12th (25.17). Heeres also took fifth in the 100 freestyle (54.48). Asselin was 10th (54.95).
The Maroons were third heading into diving (72.5) behind Marian (110) and Adrian (74). After the 100 free, the Maroons were second with 120.5 behind Marian (133).
Petrak finished eighth in the 100 butterfly (1:00.86) and sixth in the 100 backstroke (1:00.46). Lilly Ryden was 13th (1:02.56).
Siegers moved up from the eighth seed to finish fifth in the 500 freestyle (5:31.45).
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Hamilton finished 21st with 31 points.
Hamilton diver Anevay Hager took third with 336.5 points. Holland Christian's Scarlett Nykamp was ninth (305.10), Sabrina Iverson was 10th (300.85) and Hamilton's Layla Winklepleck was 16th (266.5).
"I am really proud, but at the same time, I know some of my dives weren't as good as I have done them. But I am happy with third place," Hager said. "It was really good (to finish strong) because I didn't think I was going to get past eighth place (the way the first few dives went). To get past that feels good."
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Hamilton's Emma DenUyl was 13th in the 500 free (5:32.86).
Hamilton's Adaline Garvelink, Josie Fynewever, Lydia Lucas and Grace Langeland finished 14th in the 200 medley relay (1:57.73). Lucas, Emma Reilly, Langeland and DenUyl took 14th in the 400 free relay (3:52.60).
DIVISION 1
The West Ottawa girls swimming and diving team finished 11th at the Division 1 state meet on Saturday at Oakland University.
The Panthers scored 76 points. Zeeland was 14th with 42 points.
Ann Arbor Pioneer won the meet with 322, followed by Northville (218), Saline (174) and Grand Haven (167).
West Ottawa's Kalyna Pyk, Oriana O'Mealey, Lorelai Bremer and Makenzie Baldwin finished eighth in the 400 freestyle relay (3:34.98).
West Ottawa's Makenzie Baldwin, Paige Swarthout, Oriana O'Mealey and Baylee Davis took 10th in the 200 medley relay (1:49.93).
Baldwin finished fourth in the 100 backstroke (57.32).
Kalyna Pyk, Samantha Bolt, Lorelai Bremer and Davis took 10th in the 200 freestyle relay (1:39.45).
O'Mealey took 11th in the 200 IM (2:11.48).
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Kalyna Pyk was 14th in the 100 free (53.33) and Baldwin was 15th (55.36).
Zeeland's Madison Ensing took eighth in the 500 freestyle (5:05.73) and 10th in the 200 freestyle (1:52.93).
Zeeland diver Sadie Huizenga finished seventh with 339.45 points.
Ensing, Abigail Brinks, Delaney Ketchum and Jenna Meyer took 11th in the 400 freestyle relay (3:40.67).
Grand Haven's Grace Ackerman, who swims for MLA in Holland was runner-up in the 100 backstroke (55.83). Rosalee Springer was second in the 200 IM (2:05.17).
DIVISION 2
Holland's Natalie Legg took 12th in the 100 backstroke (59.70) as the Dutch finished 29th at the Division 2 state meet at Calvin.
East Grand Rapids won with 280 points ahead of Jenison (219).
Jenison's Sophia Umstead, who trains in Holland with MLA, won the 200 IM (2:00.33). Umstead also won the 100 breaststroke (1:01.11).
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland Christian swims to second in state for first time since 1997
