Meet the 2022-23 All-Livingston County boys swim and dive team
Issac Davis
► School: Hartland
► Class: Junior
► Events: 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle
► Accomplishments: Davis became only the third Hartland boy to have two individual all-state swims in the same year, placing seventh in the 50 freestyle in 21.77 seconds and eighth in the 100 freestyle in 47.61. His fastest 100 time was 47.31 in prelims at the state meet. He took fourth in that event in the KLAA meet in 47.44. He is Hartland’s first all-stater since Cory Nelligan was sixth in the 50 freestyle in 2017.
► Coach Regina Davis: “Sprints are definitely his strong suit. He prefers shorter distances and definitely freestyle. He’s versatile in all the strokes, but he prefers to go fast.”
Tyler Davis
► School: Hartland
► Class: Junior
► Event: 100 butterfly
► Accomplishments: Davis placed 12th in the state Division 1 meet in 52.82 seconds and second in the KLAA meet in 52.54. He swam his fastest time of the season, 52.30, in prelims at the conference meet.
► Coach Regina Davis: “Tyler focuses very well. He puts his mind to a certain stroke or a certain time goal and he pushes himself to get there. He doesn’t back down. Butterfly is his main stroke, but he’s another athlete who is versatile in both long distance and sprinting.”
Sam Keranen
► School: Brighton
► Class: Senior
► Events: 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle
► Accomplishments: Keranen broke the oldest school record in Livingston County when he placed sixth in the 200 freestyle at the state meet in 1:41.96. He shattered the mark of 1:43.43 set by Brighton’s Todd Mercer in 1985. Keranen also lowered Brighton’s school record in the 500 freestyle to 4:37.63, placing third in the state meet.
► Coach Jason Black: “He has been such a great example, not just to the swimmers, but a great example for all of us. Just his work ethic, his attitude, his leadership skills. He’s been a super addition to our team.”
Jack Losert
► School: Hartland
► Class: Junior
► Event: Diving
► Accomplishments: Losert became Hartland’s first all-state diver, placing sixth in Division 1 with a score of 364.10 points. He was second at regionals with 374.55 points and second in the KLAA meet with 377.20.
► Coach Regina Davis: “Taking first or second at several meets or invitational was a good boost for our team score. Jack, as an athlete, has got team spirit. He’s motivated and dedicated. He looks out for a lot of other athletes, not even on our team.”
John McHugh
► School: Brighton
► Class: Senior
► Events: 200 individual medley, 100 backstroke
► Accomplishments: McHugh had two all-state individual finishes, placing fifth in the 200 IM in 1:54.78 and third in the 100 backstroke in 51.29. He was the KLAA champion in the backstroke in 51.43. His fastest backstroke time was 51.20 in state prelims. McHugh will swim for Hope College.
► Coach Jason Black: “He can swim so many different things. He’s just so big and strong. I’m so happy he finished on a high note, because there have been some low notes the last couple years.”
Luke Newcomb
► School: Brighton
► Class: Junior
► Event: 100 breaststroke
► Accomplishments: Newcomb became Brighton’s first boy state champion when he captured the 100 breaststroke in a school-record 55.34, which is an automatic All-American time. He dropped nearly two seconds from his winning time of 57.33 in the KLAA meet. He’s been all-state in breaststroke three times, placing fourth as a freshman and second as a sophomore.
► Coach Jason Black: “He grinds, man. This is a kid who has goals and he comes in and he grinds daily, knowing he has those goals. He works daily toward those goals. He really wanted to be on top of that podium. We’re gonna put that picture up on our pool wall as our first boys’ state champion.”
SWIMMER OF THE YEAR: Staying busy helped Brighton's Luke Newcomb because Livingston County's top swimmer
200 medley relay
► School: Brighton
► Swimmers: John McHugh, Sr.; Luke Newcomb, Jr.; Sam Keranen, Sr.; Mason Staszel, Jr.
► Accomplishments: The Bulldogs placed second in the state meet in a school-record 1:34.37, the best finish by a Brighton boys relay team and matching the best by a Livingston County school. Pinckney’s 200 medley relay was second in Division 3 last year. Brighton’s best previous relay finish was fourth in the 200 medley relay in 1991. McHugh swam backstroke, Newcomb breaststroke, Keranen butterfly and Staszel freestyle. Brighton won the KLAA meet in 1:35.94.
► Coach Jason Black: “We flirted with 1:35 a few years ago when we had (Drew) Panzl and (John) Louria. That was the best front half we ever had. When we got to 1:35 at the conference meet, I was so excited. Then we changed it up for the state meet. When you’ve got a 19.6 chasing you down, you’ve got to have a perfect race. We pretty much did, just shy of having the most perfect race by beating Pioneer.”
200 freestyle relay
► School: Hartland
► Swimmers: Issac Davis, Jr.; Andrew Barrett, Sr.; Hudson Schick, Sr.; Josh Ray, Sr.
► Accomplishments: The Eagles finished 14th in the state meet in 1:29.69. Hartland was second in the KLAA meet in a season-best 1:28.58.
► Coach Regina Davis: “All of those boys have been swimming together for several years. With all three of our relays making state qualification, we were spreading our strengths around all three relays. Those boys came up with that compilation and choosing who would swim in what order for the strengths of that relay to get us to that level.”
400 freestyle relay
► School: Brighton
► Swimmers: Mason Staszel, Jr.; Noah Shand, Soph.; Luke Newcomb, Jr.; John McHugh, Sr.
► Accomplishments: Brighton finished fifth in the state meet with a time of 3:13.57. The Bulldogs, with Sam Keranen swimming in place of Shand, were third in the KLAA meet in 3:15.36.
► Coach Jason Black: “We needed to make sure that 200 free relay scored in order to get a trophy. We needed to split it up a little bit. I was confident we could have a top-eight relay without Sam in the 400 free. We needed to put Sam in the 200 free relay to score, which it did. Mason was part of all three of our relays, a reason why we got that third-place (team) finish. Noah was really consistent in the 100 freestyle. He’s going to get bigger and stronger and faster.”
SECOND TEAM
200 medley relay: Pinckney (Conor Trotter, Sr.; Dylan Ray, Jr.; Talon Koppmann, Jr.; Lucas Mondro, Jr.)
200 freestyle: Tyler Davis, Hartland, Jr.
200 individual medley: Luke Newcomb, Brighton, Jr.
50 freestyle: Talon Koppmann, Pinckney, Jr.
Diving: Griffin Stahl, Pinckney, Sr.
100 butterfly: Kai Megel, Brighton, Sr.
100 freestyle: Mason Staszel, Brighton, Jr.
500 freestyle: Lucas Mondro, Pinckney, Jr.
200 freestyle relay: Brighton (Sam Keranen, Sr.; Kai Megel, Sr.; Noah Shand, Soph.; Mason Staszel, Jr.)
100 backstroke: Jackson Howard, Brighton, Sr.
100 breaststroke: Josh Ray, Hartland, Sr.
400 freestyle relay: Hartland (Andrew Barrett, Sr.; Sebastian Ritsema, Fr.; Tyler Davis, Jr.; Josh Ray, Sr.)
HONORABLE MENTION
Brighton: Bronsen Chapman (Fr.), Lincoln Hartman (Jr.), Max Johnson (Sr.). Hartland: Nathan Bergkoetter (Jr.), Liam Richter (Jr.). Howell: Blake Kasprzak (Jr.), Mackenzie McCormick (Soph.), Peter Mick (Jr.). Pinckney: Anna Singleton (Fr.).
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Meet the 2022-23 All-Livingston County boys swim and dive team
