Royal Oak Swimmer Just Misses All-State Status

The  varsity girls swim team finished in 24th place out of 29 teams in the Division 2 state finals this weekend at the Holland Aquatic Center. 

Royal Oak’s best result at the meet was Emily Heitchue’s ninth place finish (1:07.70) in the 100-yard breaststroke. It was a big jump for the junior, who at last year’s state finals finished the race in the 39th place. 

The Ravens swimmer missed qualifying for All-State status in the prelims by less than a second. The eighth place swimmer had a 1:07:72 and Heitchue had a 1:08.35.

More Division 2 results

When Farmington Hills Mercy moved up to Division 1, the team most excited about the news might have been Holland.

The school had finished runner-up to the Marlins for the last three straight seasons. This year, with Mercy out of the way it was able to run away with the Division 2 team state title at the Holland Aquatics Center on Saturday.

It brought home individual titles in eight of the 11 swimming events on Saturday. Holland finished the meet with 419 points ahead of second place Seaholm (288 points) and Groves (216 points).

Seaholm was one of the deepest teams at the meet. In three different events, it had multiple swimmers finish All-State. And it also picked up a half dozen other All-State finishes across the other events.

The Maples finished in the top four in all three relays (200 yard freestyle, 200 yard medley and 400 yard medley).

Some highlights included, freshman Sydney McKay finishing the 200 yard freestyle in sixth place with a 1:55.31 and sister Morgan McKay, a junior, finishing in eighth place with a 1:56.74.

Freshman Mykala Arnold finished the 200 yard IM in fifth place (2:09.89) and senior Chelsea Abbott finished in eighth place (2:10.81).

Seaholm had three of the top eight swimmers in the 500 yard freestyle. Abbott, Sydney McKay and Ella Waechter all finished with All-State honors. Abbott finished in third right ahead of McKay and Waechter finished in eighth place. 

Emily Parsons finished the 50 yard freestyle in sixth place (24.35) and Natalie Pierce finished the 100 yard backstroke in third place (1:05.31).

In diving, Kelly Frazier is bringing home the individual title. The senior finished atop the standings with a 433.45 beating out Walled Lake Western’s Allie Murphy, who finished in second place with a 414.60.

Groves didn’t have nearly as many swimmers finish All-State, but it is bringing home two individual titles.

Annie Lazor defended her crown in the 100 yard breaststroke. She won the race this year with a 1:02:43. The senior didn’t beat the Division 2 record she set last year, but her time was still good enough to beat the second place swimmer by nearly two seconds.

Teammate Beth Moran also competed in the 100 yard breaststoke. The junior finished in sixth place with a 1:07.34. 

The Falcons also won the 200 freestyle relay with a 1:36.43. Hanna Pfershy, Taylor Pfershy, Moran and Lazor beat out Holland by a .12 of a second to take home the title. Groves finished the other two relays in the top eight as well.

Other highlights for Groves included a second place finish by Lazor in the 200 yard IM (2:03.08), Hanna Pfershy’s seventh place finish in the 100 yard freestyle (53.55) and Kelly McGowan’s seventh place finish in 100 yard backstroke (57.98).

Bloomfield Hills Andover finished in 18th place. Andover was competing in Division 2 for the first time since swimming went to three divisions.

It had swimmers compete in all three relays and finished in the middle of the pack in all three events. Sophomore Sarah Kilbride had the best individual result for the Barons with a 19th place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke. 

The highlight for Andover was its diving performance. The Barons had two divers finish in the top 10 on Saturday. 

Sydney Levy finished in fifth place and freshman Olivia Wagner finished in eighth place. It had two other divers in the top 20. Bianca Lazar finished in 15th place and Jessica Chudler finished in 17th place. 

Download the movie