State Finals Up Next for Lakers' Girls Swimming and Diving

The state finals are a time for athletes to show their best.

It shouldn’t be too difficult for a varsity girls swim team that have has doing that all season. 

“I don’t think anything could deter from the season the team had as a whole,” Lakers head coach Bob Crosby said. “It was a very successful season for us.” 

Crosby’s team will compete in four individual events and all three relays at the Division 1 state finals this weekend at Eastern Michigan University. West Bloomfield will also have two divers competing at the finals.

“We improved in just about every category,” Crosby said. “To qualify all three relays is something we’ve only done once before for the girls team. I’m proud of that accomplishment.”

Crosby, who has been the coach at West Bloomfield since 1980, said this has been one of his most rewarding seasons. He said a strong finish at the state finals would be icing on the cake.

The girls finished the regular season with an 8-2 record. It was the most wins the team has had since 2001. The Lakers only two losses came against Stoney Creek, the Oakland Activities Association White’s top team, and Seaholm, in a crossover meet with the OAA Red.

Seniors Moore and Forhan lead the way

Last year, the Lakers finished in 19th place in the state finals. This year most of Crosby's swimmers will be competing in the state finals for the second or even third time. 

Mallory Moore is one of the West Bloomfield swimmers that’s headed to the state finals for a third time. Her times 1:57.97 in the 200 freestyle and 5:15.84 in the 500 freestyle qualified her in both individual events.

“Mallory is a senior and I’d like to see her score in an event cause she’s gone to the state meet three times now,” Crosby said. “I think her best chance would be in the 500.”

On the diving side, Claire Forhan and Sara Colville will both compete. Forhan is a senior headed to the state finals for the fourth time, while Colville is a junior going for the third time. 

“Claire has placed the last two years in diving and she was fourth in the regionals last night,” Crosby said. “She has that kind of potential again, she had a great year with her best scores.”

Moore’s sister Maison Moore, a sophomore, will swim in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle. She qualified for both events at the first meet of the season. Her best times so far this year are 24.50 in the 50 free and 53.41 in the 100 free. 

“Maison missed making all-state by a hundredth of a second (in the 50 yard freestyle),” Crosby said. “I think she has the capability to be top eight in both of those events.”

Cheshire anchors relay teams

As a team, West Bloomfield qualified for all three relay events. Crosby is still deciding on the combination of swimmers that will compete in the 200 yard medley, 400 yard medley and 400 yard freestyle. 

Junior Krysia Cheshire will be one of the swimmers on the relay teams. The junior missed qualifying for two individual events by less than a second. Her time in the 100 freestyle was 55.70 and the Division 1 qualifying time was 55.09. She was even closer in the 50 freestyle with a time of 25.45. The cut off was 25.39. 

“Krysia had a great league meet,” “She came out of nowhere and is in our all-time top 10 list now in three events – the 50 free, the 100 free and the 100 fly. She’s had a phenomenal season for us.”

Crosby hopes the team’s experience will translate into more points, but he said the competition will be as fierce as ever in the Division 1 meet. 

“It’s a much different scenario this year cause there are some new teams in Division 1 that are very strong that are moving up from other divisions,” Crosby said. “(Farmington Hills) Mercy, Ann Arbor Skyline and Hudsonville are three that come to mind. When you put them in the mix it’s much harder to score.”

Mercy moves back to Division 1 after winning Division 2 the past four years. Hudsonville finished in the top five in 2009 and 2010.

Elite company

Adding to the degree of difficult will be the venue. Crosby said out of the three state final locations, Holland Aquatics Center and Oakland University are the other two, Eastern will probably produce the fastest times.

“Eastern is a fast pool,” Crosby said. “I believe Eastern is the fastest because it’s the deepest. The deeper the pool is the less turbulence you get off the bottom. Eastern is like 17 feet deep. The times at Eastern tend to be really fast when there is a championship meet there.”

Regardless of where West Bloomfield finishes in the standings, Crosby said all the qualifiers should be proud of their accomplishments.

“Qualifying and scoring at the state meet are two different levels,” Crosby said. “I tell the kids all the time, if they are at the state meet, they’ve put themselves in probably the top five percent of swimming in the swimmers across the state. They are in an elite status just to get there. To score points that narrows it down that much more.”