Macomb County

County swim meet crowns new champ, records fall

By Jon Malavolti
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by David Schreiber Chippewa Valley’s Tommy Bender dives into the pool as teammate Craig Pertler reaches the wall below him during the 400-yard freestyle relay finals at the Feb. 4 Macomb County boys swimming and diving championship meet at L’Anse Creuse North. The Big Reds, who set a new county record in that event, won the overall team title. Photo by David Schreiber Chippewa Valley’s Tommy Bender dives into the pool as teammate Craig Pertler reaches the wall below him during the 400-yard freestyle relay finals at the Feb. 4 Macomb County boys swimming and diving championship meet at L’Anse Creuse North. The Big Reds, who set a new county record in that event, won the overall team title.

Records fell and medals were awarded Feb. 4 at the Macomb County boys swimming and diving championship meet at Macomb L’Anse Creuse North.

Chippewa Valley won the team county title for the first time in program history, breaking a decades old record in the process.

The Big Reds scored 308 points to finish first overall, followed by Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse (217 points), Utica Ford II (207), Warren De La Salle (184), Utica Eisenhower (182), Fraser High (181), Romeo High (178), L’Anse Creuse North (164), Utica Stevenson (153) and Macomb Dakota (144).

Next up in the standings were Anchor Bay (101), St. Clair Shores Lakeview (60), Warren Cousino (44.5), Warren Mott (43.5), Utica High (40), St. Clair Shores Lake Shore (32), Center Line High (31), Warren Woods Tower (21), St. Clair Shores South Lake (19) and Roseville High (15).

Ford’s Jack Dischler, who won the 200- and 500-yard freestyle titles for the third consecutive year, was the senior swimmer of the meet.

Romeo’s Ben Winn, meanwhile, set a county and pool record in the 50 freestyle, finishing in 21.83 seconds. Winn also won the 100 breaststroke title.

Also winning individual titles were L’Anse Creuse’s Logan Jordan (200 IM and 100 butterfly) and Evan Haggerty (diving), Romeo’s Danny Abbott (100 freestyle) and Ford’s Mike Rykaczewski (100 backstroke),

Utica Stevenson’s team of Chaz Gracey, Kurt Schnel, Hunter Glazewski and Zak Melcher won the 200 freestyle relay.

Chippewa’s 400 freestyle record-setting relay team of Jeff Voss, Ben Pitlock, Craig Pertler and Tommy Bender broke a 1979 mark set by a team from the now-closed Warren High. The new county record is 3:22.14.

The Big Reds also finished first in the 200 medley relay, thanks to Joshua Curtiss, Pitlock, Pertler and Voss.

As for winning the county meet, Chippewa coach Tony Grice said it’s something the team has been working on for the past three years.

“We’ve been building up to this point, getting better each year,” Grice said. “They’ve worked very hard, and they deserve it.”

The coach said it was a mixture of both top-tier talent and depth that led the Big Reds to the top.

“It was huge for us,” Grice said of the balance.

He added that the competition was especially strong and has been improving.

“There’s definitely a lot of very fast swimmers out there,” the coach said. “ The depth was our difference. We have a complete team that’s able to do well in all events. That’s what we did.”

As for breaking the 33-year-old relay record, Grice said it was “pretty exciting.”

For complete results from the county meet, check out http://lcns wim.com/feedback.htm.

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Jon Malavolti at jmalavolti@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1040. Follow Jon on Twitter.