Bloomfield Hills

Cranes crowned swim champs

By Jon Malavolti
C & G Sports Writer

» Click on image to view full size « Photo by Andrew Potter Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Madeline Montgomery swims in the 400 freestyle relay at the Nov. 19 MHSAA Division 3 girls swimming and diving state finals at Oakland University. The Cranes won the D-3 state title, while Farmington Hills Mercy won the D1 title. Photo by Andrew Potter Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Madeline Montgomery swims in the 400 freestyle relay at the Nov. 19 MHSAA Division 3 girls swimming and diving state finals at Oakland University. The Cranes won the D-3 state title, while Farmington Hills Mercy won the D1 title.

Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood’s girls swimming and diving team won the program’s first ever MHSAA state title Nov. 19 at Oakland University.

The Cranes, runners-up the past two years, took home the crown in Division 3 after amassing 328.5 points.

“I couldn’t be any more proud,” Cranbrook coach Tony Kurth said.

Cranbrook placed plenty of swimmers in points-earning positions at the finals, highlighted by several top-eight finishes.

Leading things off, the 200 medley relay team of Alexa Resetar, Molly Laubernds, Julia Briggs and Milon Crawford placed fourth.

Kylie Powrie took first place in the 200 freestyle, while Emme Reasoner was sixth.

Resetar finished sixth, and Kendall Young finished eighth in the 200 IM.

In the 50 freestyle, Cranbrook’s Crawford tied Country Day’s MacLean tied for third place, while Cranbrook’s Madeline Montgomery took seventh.

Reasoner finished third in the 100 butterfly. Her teammate, Briggs, was fifth in the race.

In the 100 freestyle, Crawford finished in third, followed by Lara Kokubo and Montgomery in sixth and seventh, respectively.

Powrie picked up her second individual title of the day in the 500 freestyle; Laubernds placed fifth in the race.

Crawford, Montgomery, Reasoner and Kokubo teamed up to take second in the 200 freestyle relay.

Resetar finished in second in the 100 backstroke.

And in the 400 freestyle relay, the Cranes took the title thanks to Laubernds, Montgomery, Powrie and Kokubo finishing first.

Cranbrook needed every point it could to fend off some tough competition, led by East Grand Rapids, the team that edged the Cranes the past two years for the D-3 title. The tables were turned, though, this year, as East Grand Rapids finished in second place.

“You have to expect tough competition at every state meet,” Kurth said.

A key to the title, the coach said, was that his swimmers “believed in each other.”
“They grew strong together and did not let anything from the outside deter them. We took care of business (in the preliminaries) and completed our run with the utmost class.”

Local swimmers shine
Cranbrook’s swimmers and divers weren’t the only ones taking home medals Nov. 19, as local athletes excelled across the three state finals.

“The greater Detroit area has an amazing talent pool of swimmers,” Kurth said. “When you look at all the three state division winners over the years, there are local area schools consistently winning. I am now proud that Cranbrook-Kingswood can now be mentioned with some of those winning teams.”

In Division 1 at Eastern Michigan University
Farmington Hills Mercy won the state title with 258 points. Locally, Bloomfield Hills Marian finished in third with 165 points.

Marian’s Jaynie Pulte won the 50 freestyle and finished in second of the 100 butterfly. Mollie Pulte placed third in the 200 freestyle and fifth in the 100 freestyle. In diving, the Mustangs’ Emma Gaboury took second.

In Division 2 at the Holland Aquatics Center
Holland took the team title with 419 points. Locally, Birmingham Seaholm was second with 288 points, followed by Birmingham Groves (third place, 216 points) and Bloomfield Hills Andover (18th place, 27 points).

In the 200 medley relay, Groves’ team of Kelly McGowan, Annie Lazor, Hanna Pfershy and Beth Moran took second. Seaholm’s Kelsey Gariepy, Natalie Pierce, Mykala Arnold and Emily Parsons combined to take fourth.

Seaholm’s Sydney McKay placed sixth, and Morgan McKay ended up eighth in the 200 freestyle.

In the 200 IM, Groves’ Lazor was second, while Seaholm’s Arnold and Chelsea Abbott ended up fifth and eighth, respectively.

Seaholm’s Parsons took sixth in the 50 freestyle.

Seaholm’s Kelly Frazier won the individual title in diving. Andover’s Sydney Levy was fifth, and Olivia Wagner was eighth.

Groves’ Hanna Pfershy took seventh in the 100 freestyle. In the 500 freestyle, Seaholm’s Abbott took third, while teammates Sydney McKay finished fourth and Ella Waechter was eighth.

In the 200 freestyle relay, Groves’ team of Hanna Pfershy, Moran, Taylor Pfershy and Lazor took first place. Seaholm finished in third thanks to Lizzie Ahern, Parsons, Morgan McKay and Waechter.

Groves’ McGowan placed seventh in the 100 backstroke.

In the 100 breaststroke, Groves’ Lazor finished first, followed by Seaholm’s Natalie Pierce in third and Groves’ Moran in sixth.

Seaholm’s Sydney and Morgan McKay, Arnold and Abbott were third in the 400 freestyle relay; Groves’ Taylor Pfershy, Alysse Fischer, Jessie Miletic and McGowan took fourth.

In Division 3 at Oakland
Following Cranbrook locally in the final team standings were Bloomfield Hills Lahser (third place, 182 points) and Beverly Hills Detroit Country Day (eighth place, 97.5 points).

In the 200 medley relay, Lahser’s team of Ines Charles, Hailey Sambor, Lucy Ramonat and Mary Pilibosian took first, while Country Day’s Courtney Tynan, Maggie Pyett, Mary Kate MacLean and Amy Sun took seventh.

Lahser’s Pilibosian placed second in the 200 IM.

Lahser’s Charles won the individual crown in the 100 butterfly.

In the freestyle races, Country Day’s MacLean tied Cranbrook’s Crawford for third place. Lahser’s Ramonat was sixth in the 50; Country Day’s Pyett placed fifth in the 100; and Lahser’s Pilibosian was fourth in the 500;

In the freestyle relays, Country Day’s Pyett, Sun, Maureen and May Kate MacLean took fourth in the 200; and Lahser’s Alicia Lew, Athena Antonis, Pilibosian and Charles placed fifth in the 400.

Lahser’s Charles won her second title of the day in the 100 backstroke.

Country Day’s Pyett finished fifth in the 100 backstroke.

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