Macomb County

County champs crowned

By Jason Carmel Davis
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by Patricia O’Blenes The Warren De La Salle boys swim team beat 20 other local teams to take the team title at the 2013 Macomb County Swimming and Diving Championships, held Feb. 1-2 at Macomb L’Anse Creuse North. Pictured is Pilots senior Anton Rapp swimming in the 200-yard freestyle. Photo by Patricia O’Blenes The Warren De La Salle boys swim team beat 20 other local teams to take the team title at the 2013 Macomb County Swimming and Diving Championships, held Feb. 1-2 at Macomb L’Anse Creuse North. Pictured is Pilots senior Anton Rapp swimming in the 200-yard freestyle.

MACOMB TOWNSHIP — The Warren De La Salle boys swim team proved it’s the best in the area by taking the team title at the 2013 Macomb County Swimming and Diving Championships.

The win gives De La Salle its first county title.

Events took place Feb. 1-2 at Macomb L’Anse Creuse North High School.

“I told them to act like they’ve been there before,” said Pilots coach Jim Singelyn, a De La Salle alumnus in his fourth year with the program, after results had been tallied.

“I told them to be professional and enjoy it, but we’ve still got a lot more to do. The season isn’t over in February. It’s done in March.”

Singelyn was speaking of the Michigan High School Athletic Association state swimming finals, slated for March 8-9 in Holland (Division 1), at Oakland University (D-2) and at Eastern Michigan University (D-3).

The Pilots, as a team, recorded 310 points, topping second-place Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse, which tallied 251. Macomb Dakota (238), Anchor Bay (187) and Utica Eisenhower (186) round out the top five.

Twenty-one local teams competed in the finals. Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, which captured the 2012 team title, finished eighth with 147 points.

De La Salle swimmer Anton Rapp, a senior, won the 200-yard freestyle title with a time of 1  minute, 50.16 seconds, out-touching Fraser High’s Hunter Greene by 1.48 seconds.

The Pilots’ 200 medley relay team of freshman P.J. Desmet, and seniors Rapp, Jonathan Wolak and Patrick Guyon scored 40 points in winning the relay. The De La Salle quartet, with a time of 1:41.61, beat second-place Ike by nearly five seconds.

Singelyn said a tournament like the county championships does help to prepare swimmers for the state finals. He said going up against so many teams at one venue gives the county championships the feel of a state final bout.

In other races, Chippewa Valley junior Ben Pitlock (2:01.46) took first place in the 200 individual medley.

Romeo High senior Danny Abbott won the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.92 seconds. Abbott also placed first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 47.56 seconds to set a meet record.

Warren Cousino senior Jacob Johnson placed first in the 1-meter diving finals, recording a score of 377.50 points.

L’Anse Creuse senior Logan Jordan (54.22 seconds) won the 100 butterfly race.

Ike junior Mike Hudson won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:54.44. Hudson also won the 100 backstroke with a time of 56.83 seconds.

L’Anse Creuse (junior Chad Pierce, and seniors Jordan, Nick Valice and Nick Brown) won the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:32.22. The Lancers also won the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:22.32. Valice also took first place in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.15.

“The county’s got some pretty good swimmers. It’s cyclical, so you have to kind of make sure you have a balance across grade levels so you can build a program,” Singelyn said. “There’s a lot of strong swimmers who have a chance to do something good at the state meet.”

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Jason Carmel Davis at jdavis@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1107. Follow Jason Carmel on Twitter.