(WITH PHOTOS, VIDEO) Hartland Swimmer Darts to Fifth in State in the 100-Yard Breaststroke

A fifth-place all-state finish in the 100-yard breaststroke capped an amazing weekend for Hartland High School junior Kirsten Stroven who says she was thrilled at her breakthrough performance.

"I went both days in 1:05, hopefully next year I'll do even better," said Stroven, who shaved more than two seconds off her seeded time Friday to qualify second for Saturday's finals — her fastest ever and a time she was unsure she'd ever reach.

"It's like wow, I'm standing next to a girl with a 1:04."

Hartland head coach Maria Puranen said Stroven has a tremendous work ethic. She finished 16th last year in the same event.

"That was pretty awesome," Puranen said of the performance.

Stroven credits a decision to focus on swimming that sparked her improvement. She said she decided to give up club soccer this year and that allowed her to swim more at Hartland and with a club team in South Lyon coached by Mark VanderMey. That work included 12,000-yard practice days during the season and reworking her stroke.

Also helping is a friendly rivalry with kid-sister, Dana, who as a freshman finished 17th in the same event.

"They push each other," Puranen said. "They are lot of fun."

Stroven's high finish propelled the Eagles to 17th place, the same standing as last year and best in Livingston County. Farmington Hills Mercy, previously in Division 2, was first.

Puranen said it's an improvement because the times were faster, noting several records were set Saturday, making the competition more fierce at the Division 1 level.

"They did extremely well in a super tough field," Puranen said. "We've got next year to look forward to."

Puranen said she was especially proud of the three relay teams, highlighted by the 200-yard medley relay, which finished 13th and set a new Hartland record of 1:52.23. On the team was Stroven, sophomore Lindsay Pajot, junior Jocelyn Reinert and junior Hannah Grosso.

Also making the top 16 was junior Avery Evenson, who was 11th in the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:54.31 and 15th in the 100-yard freestyle with a 53.63.

Puranen said that's high-quality, although it's not quite up to Evenson's past performances. Evenson, who also runs cross country at the same time, had previously has finished in the top 8 in both the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle both her freshman and sophomore years.

"It wasn't her weekend," she said, noting she is also training for the national cross country championships.

"She took it in good spirits. It's hard you have the spotlight on you all the time."

Other Hartland results from Saturday:

• The 200-yard freestyle relay (Evenson, Grasso, Reinert and junior Carolyn Robinson) was 15th with a 1:40.62
• The 400-yard freestyle relay (Evenson, Robinson, Grosso and Erica Mehlberg) was 12th with a 3:38.95.