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Sports

Marian Places Third Overall in State Swimming Finals

Pulte sisters power the Mustangs to 165 points in Division 1, while Seaholm and Groves finish second and third, respectively, in Division 2.

Local high school girls swim teams finished strong in state finals this weekend.

Division 1

The Marian High School Mustangs, behind strong performances from sisters Jaynie and Mollie Pulte, finished third overall in the state finals Saturday at Eastern Michigan University in Yspilanti.

The team finished with 165 points, a distant third behind Saline (243.5) and division winner Farmington Hills Mercy (258), which continued its dominance despite moving from Division 2 this year.

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Leading the way for the Mustangs was the elder Pulte sister, Jaynie, a senior who won the 50-yard freestyle for the second consecutive year by setting a Division 1 record with a time of 23.23 seconds in Saturday's final. She had the best time in the preliminary round and again in the final to take home the title over Annie Jongekrijg of Lake Orion.

Pulte also earned All-State honors in the 100-yard butterfly. She finished in second place (55.87) about a second behind Maddie Wright from Waterford United (54.82).

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Pulte’s younger sister, Mollie, finished All-State in the 100-yard freestyle. The freshman finished in fifth place with a time of 51.84 seconds in the final, which  was one of the closest heats in the entire tournament as the top five swimmers were separated by only a second and a half. Pulte also finished All-State in the 200-yard freestyle by claiming third place with a time of 1:52.47.

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the sisters teamed up with Clare Nienstedt and Madison Taylor to finish in second place. The team from Hudsonville won the relay with a Division 1 record time of 1:35.46. Marian had a 1:35.89, which beat the previous Division 1 record as well.

West Bloomfield and Troy finished near the bottom in the team standings tied for 27th place (13 points) respectively.

The best result for West Bloomfield was a 11th place finish for Maison Moore in the 50-yard freestyle. The sophomore had a time of 24.40 in the finals. She missed qualifying for the top eight in the prelims by just a 10th of a second.

Both her times in the prelim and final races were faster than her qualifying time.

Troy’s best finish was in the 200-yard medley relay. Jacqueline Burke, Kristine Barlow, Tessa Lanzen and Lauren Dietz finished in 12th place.

The Colts best individual result was Barlow’s 14th place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:07.17).

Division 2

When Mercy moved up to Division 1, the team most excited about the news might have been Holland.

The school had finished runner-up to the Marlins for the last three straight seasons. This year, with Mercy out of the way it was able to run away with the Division 2 team state title at the Holland Aquatics Center on Saturday.

It brought home individual titles in eight of the 11 swimming events on Saturday. Holland finished the meet with 419 points ahead of second place Seaholm (288 points) and Groves (216 points).

Bloomfield Hills Andover finished in 18th place and Royal Oak finished in 24th place out of 29 teams.

Seaholm was one of the deepest teams at the meet. In three different events, it had multiple swimmers finish All-State. It also picked up a half-dozen other All-State finishes across the other events.

The Maples finished in the top four in all three relays (200 yard freestyle, 200 yard medley and 400 yard medley).

Some highlights included, freshman Sydney McKay finishing the 200 yard freestyle in sixth place with a 1:55.31 and sister Morgan McKay, a junior, finishing in eighth place with a 1:56.74.

Freshman Mykala Arnold finished the 200 yard IM in fifth place (2:09.89) and senior Chelsea Abbott finished in eighth place (2:10.81).

Seaholm had three of the top eight swimmers in the 500 yard freestyle. Abbott, Sydney McKay and Ella Waechter all finished with All-State honors. Abbott finished in third right ahead of McKay and Waechter finished in eighth place. 

Emily Parsons finished the 50 yard freestyle in sixth place (24.35) and Natalie Pierce finished the 100 yard backstroke in third place (1:05.31).

In diving, Kelly Frazier is bringing home the individual title. The senior finished atop the standings with a 433.45 beating out Walled Lake Western’s Allie Murphy, who finished in second place with a 414.60.

Groves didn’t have nearly as many swimmers finish All-State, but it is bringing home two individual titles.

Annie Lazor defended her crown in the 100 yard breaststroke. She won the race this year with a 1:02:43. The senior didn’t beat the Division 2 record she set last year, but her time was still good enough to beat the second place swimmer by nearly two seconds.

Teammate Beth Moran also competed in the 100 yard breaststroke. The junior finished in sixth place with a 1:07.34. 

The Falcons also won the 200 freestyle relay with a 1:36.43. Hanna Pfershy, Taylor Pfershy, Moran and Lazor beat out Holland by a .12 of a second to take home the title. Groves finished the other two relays in the top eight as well.

Other highlights for Groves included a second place finish by Lazor in the 200 yard IM (2:03.08), Hanna Pfershy’s seventh place finish in the 100 yard freestyle (53.55) and Kelly McGowan’s seventh place finish in 100 yard backstroke (57.98).

Royal Oak’s best result at the meet was Emily Heitchue’s ninth place finish (1:07.70) in the 100 yard breaststroke. It was a big jump for the junior, who at last year’s state finals finished the race in the 39th place. 

The Ravens swimmer missed qualifying for All-State status in the prelims by less than a second. The eighth place swimmer had a 1:07:72 and Heitchue had a 1:08.35.

Andover was competing in Division 2 for the first time since swimming went to three divisions.

It had swimmers compete in all three relays and finished in the middle of the pack in all three events. Sophomore Sarah Kilbride had the best individual result for the Barons with a 19th place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke. 

The highlight for Andover was its diving performance. The Barons had two divers finish in the top 10 on Saturday. 

Sydney Levy finished in fifth place and freshman Olivia Wagner finished in eighth place. It had two other divers in the top 20. Bianca Lazar finished in 15th place and Jessica Chudler finished in 17th place.

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