Dexter Girls Swim Team Captures 14th Division Championship

The girls’ swimming and diving team captured its 14^th consecutive Southeastern Conference White Division championship Friday and Saturday in the league meet at Beach Middle School in Chelsea.

The Dreadnaughts bested the competition, finishing first with 488 points. Placing second in the division was Adrian with 253 points, while Chelsea was third with 250 points, Tecumseh fourth with 200 points, Ypsilanti fifth with 134 points and Ypsilanti Lincoln sixth with 58 points.

“Beyond anything else, we were going in to throw down our best times of the season and swim like a championship team,” Dexter coach Cory Bergen said. “I knew we were ready to swim fast, but the sheer depth and breadth of the time drops was a sight to behold.”

As a team, Dexter posted an impressive 49 individual season best times in the preliminaries and followed that up with another 35 faster swims on Saturday.

The 200 medley relay kicked-off the meet and had been an event which Dexter had yet to earn a state qualifying time. It would not have been a surprise to see that change, but when the “B” relay team of Reagan Maisch, Emalie Taylor, Abby Mesaros and Molly Keenan bested the cut by more than a second, finishing in 1:58.69, the Dexter contingent erupted. This was a precursor of good things to come as the quartet of Callie Swan, Sarah Daugherty, Melissa Vesey and Murphy Hansen dropped their seed time by almost four seconds and grabbed the No. 2 seed for Saturday with a time of 1:56.54.

Dexter saw seven swimmers qualify for Saturday swims in the 200-freestyle with Morgan capturing the top seed by posting a time of 2:02.51. Season best efforts were turned in by Morgan Cole (2:09.52), Kylie Boyd (2:11.40), Laura Stanton (2:11.42), Allison Schneider (2:13.34), Shelby Scherdt (2:16.16), Allison Rossini (2:17.03), Susie Butler (2:27.19), Caroline Rossini (2:27.64), and Zoe Marks (3:03.31).

Each Dreadnaught entered in the 200 individual medley posted season best efforts led by Maisch (2:16.33) and Mesaros (2:19.56), who both earned their first trips to state. Hailey Sheats (2:28.06), Swan (2:29.25), Claire Stetten (2:31.33), Lauren LaFontaine (2:33.06) and Chante Liu (2:45.05) added to the swim bests and spots in the Saturday lineup.

Taylor (26.17), Hansen (26.30), Tracy Koenn (27.02), Keenan (27.49), Allie Stiber (29.60), and Maggie Karacher (29.40) made it through to Saturday in the 50 freestyle. Vesey swam to a second-place finish in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:02.43 while earning a state meet cut. Brianna Tingley (1:08.10) and Koenn (1:08.26) secured spots in the finals and teammate Katie Stilber posted a personal best of 1:10.38 to grab a spot in the consolation heat. Scherdt knocked off a couple of seconds in her swim to make the bonus heat posting a time of 1:12.87.

The Dreadnaughts sent two swimmers to the finals in the 100-freestyle with Daugherty posting a 56.87 and Franz a 57.40. Keenan posted a season best 58.86 to get into the consolation heat and Kristin Houghtaling, Allie Stilber, Michele Brouwer and Alison Rossini made it back in the bonus heat. Brouwer,  Rossini, Houghtaling, Karacher,  Alea Atwell, Daugherty and Stilber all earned season best times. Dexter placed four swimmers in the 500 freestyle finals with Morgan earning the top seed by posting a time of 5:23.09, while Maisch (5:29.84), Cole (5:35.08) and Tingley (5:38.67) completed the group.

Audrey Sleder, Boyd, Schneider and LaFontaine all posted season best times and made it to the bonus heat. Daugherty, Franz, Hansen, and Morgan earned the top seed in the 200-freestyle relay in 1:45.80, while Taylor, Koenn, Boyd and Tingley did the same for the consolation heat in 1:49.20.

Swan (1:03.98) and Stetten(1:09.03) both secured a spot in the finals for the 100 backstroke, while Susie Butler (1:12.43) and Brouwer  (1:12.70) recorded season best times and a spot in the consolation heat. Atwell and Houghtaling posted strong swims and made it back for the bonus heat. The Dreads again earned four spots in the finals for the 100 breaststroke with Mesaros getting her second state cut in 1:12.52. Season best times were posted by Stanton (1:17.86), Liu (1:21.36), Sheats (1:15.90) and Sleder (1:21.65) with Sheats joining Daugherty, Mesaros and Taylor in the finals.

The squad of Morgan, Keenan, Maisch and Franz gained the second seed in the 400-freestyle relay, while the team of Cole, Boyd, Mesaros and Vesey were tops and heading into the consolation heat.

The 1-meter dive preliminary round followed the swim events and saw Katie Callaghan score 262.45 points to earn the top seed in the finals and Taylor Sloan tallied 229.65 points for the No. 2 slot. Sarah Keen scored 174.85 points on Friday with teammates Katie Eberbach in ninth with 174.15 points, Lynn Metz in 11th with 170.75, Amanda Mayer in 14th and Charlotte Read in 15th.

 “Our seniors were confident and that sense of high expectations spread throughout the team,” Bergen said. “We've done this for so many years in a row that I think excellent performances are expected rather than hoped for.”

On Saturday, the 200 medley relay team of Swan, Daugherty, Vesey and Hansen placed second in 1:55.78. Maisch, Taylor, Mesaros and Keenan were first in the consolation heat and seventh overall in 1:58.69. Morgan placed first in the 200 freestyle, while Cole was second in a season best 2:04.98, Stanton fourth in 2:09.89 and Boyd fifth in 2:10.05, both personal bests.

Maisch placed third in the 200 individual medley final in 2:17.15, while Mesaros was fourth in 2:18.92, Sheats (2:26.74) sixth and Swan (2:27.84) ninth. Hansen was second in the 50 freestyle in 25.91, missing the state cut by .02 seconds. Taylor grabbed third in 26.05. Koenn was seventh in a season best 26.63 and Keenan ninth in a season best 27.37. Callaghan was first in the 1-meter dive with a two-day total of 337.20 points. Sloan was second with 299.30 points, while Eberbach was seventh with 250.95 points and Keen ninth with 241.05 points.

In the 100 butterfly final, Vesey finished second in 1:02.49, while Tingley was fifth in 1:08.10 and Koenn sixth in 1:08.26. Katie Stilber won the consolation heat and took seventh overall in 1:10.38. Franz was second in the 100 freestyle in a state meet cut time of 55.62, while Daugherty was third in 57.23. Keenan took first in the consolation heat and seventh overall in 59.01. Morgan was first in the 500 freestyle in 5:19.90, while Cole was second in a state cut lifetime best 5:26.22. Maisch finished third in 5:29.72, while Tingley was fourth in 5:34.73.

In the 200 freestyle relay, Daugherty, Franz, Hansen and Morgan finished first in 1:43.15. Taylor, Koenn, Boyd and Tingley placed first in the consolation heat and seventh overall with a time of 1:48.93. Swan placed second in the 100 backstroke in 1:03.62, while Stetten was fifth in 1:09.37, Butler 10th in 1:12.30 and Brouwer 11th in 1:12.92. Mesaros was second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.97, while Daugherty was third in a state cut 1:12.53, Sheats fifth in 1:16.33 and Taylor sixth in 1:17.86.

“I'm just very proud of the way swimmers and divers all competed and supported each other,” Bergen said. “It was exciting to have so many of them exceed their goals. We had a lot of young athletes achieve some exciting things, but so many of the seniors went out with their best performances as well. It was a total team effort, just like we always preach."

Dexter next competes in the Division 2 state meet Nov. 18-19 in Holland.