Butch Harmon
Sports Scene
Another season of swimming excitement came to an end and a number of area high schools turned in solid efforts at the state swimming and diving finals.
DIVISION 1
The Rockford Rams capped a big season by placing second at the Division 1 state meet at Eastern Michigan University. Saline won the championship with 326.5 points, while Rockford placed second with 233 points. Heritage took 10th place with 80 points; the Lansing Legacy, the Lansing public schools co-op team made up of swimmers from Everett, Eastern, and Sexton, placed 22nd; and Holt placed 32nd.
Rockford had a number of strong efforts at the finals led by senior Eric Chisholm, who won the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 20.76. Chisholm was also part of the 200-free relay team that set a new record time of 1:24.34. He was joined on that relay team by senior Nick Dulak, senior Bryan Wasberg, and sophomore Craig Wasberg.
Rockford also turned in strong efforts in the other two relays. The 200-yard medley relay team of junior Nick Willison, Bryan Wasberg, senior Josh Travis, and Chisholm placed second to Saline with a time of 1:34.07. The 400-free relay team of Craig Wasberg, junior Mike Arend, junior Trenton Babcock, and Travis placed fourth.
Chisholm also took second in the 100 freestyle. In the 500 freestyle, Craig Wasberg placed fourth. Arend took seventh and in the 100 backstroke, Willison placed ninth, and senior Harrison Webb took 15th. Craig Wasberg also finished sixth in the 200-yard freestyle, while Bryan Wasberg was eighth in the 100 breaststroke, Travis was ninth in the 100 butterfly, Bryan Wasberg was 10th in the 200 IM, and Arend 16th in the 200 freestyle.
Heritage was paced by its relay teams. The 200 free relay team of senior Scott Inman, junior Jonathan Haroon, sophomore Elliot Plummer and senior Spenser Swanton placed seventh, while the same foursome placed eighth in the 400 free relay. The 200 medley relay team of Inman, senior Martin Plummer, Swanton, and Haroon placed ninth overall.
Individually for the Hawks, junior Nick Robinson was eighth in diving, while Swanton placed 12th in the 100 freestyle.
The Lansing Legacy came away with a state champion, as senior Blake Howe won the 100 backstroke in a time of 50.83. Howe also placed third in the 100 butterfly in 50.27.
Holt senior Dan Kalchick placed 14th in the 100 backstroke.
DIVISION 3
The Division 3 state title came down to the end, with St. Joseph edging Grand Rapids Christian 250-245 to win it.
Locally, Mason placed 14th with 45 points, while Alma placed 19th with 29 points.
Mason was paced by its 200 free relay team that took sixth place, while the 200 medley relay team placed 13th. Bulldog senior DJ Hearit placed 12th in both the 50 free and 100 butterfly, and sophomore Corbin Shuler was 16th in the 200 IM.
Alma was paced by junior Broderic Bender. Bender finished fourth in the 500 freestyle in a time of 4:47.77 and fifth in the 100 butterfly in a time of 59.72.
Ionia placed 22nd overall with a total of 25 points. Ionia senior Jorden Welton scored points by placing 15th in the 100 free and 16th in the 50 free. Bulldog sophomore Skyler Fish also scored in a pair of events, as he took 10th in the 200 free and 10th in the 500 free.
Wayland finished 24th and was paced by senior Ray Antel, who finished 11th in the 100 butterfly in 54.53. Wayland’s 200 medley relay team placed 14th, while the 400 free relay team placed 15th.
Flint Powers scored 10 points, as freshman David Kirtek placed 10th in the 200 IM and 14th in the 100 breaststroke.
Both Haslett and Ovid-Elsie had divers finish in the top 16. Haslett senior Hank Plaggemars finished third, while Ovid-Elsie’s Kaitlyn Stevens placed 16th.