A handful of county teams are once again on their way to making title runs as the girls swimming season gets into gear.
A year after seven county teams achieved top-five finishes at the Division 1, 2 and 3 state finals meets, there is talent returning to several of the top area teams.
Swimming powerhouse Farmington Hills Mercy is in search of its third straight title in Division 2, while Birmingham Marian will use the experience of back-to-back Division 3 state championships to try and make a run in its first year in Division 1.
Both schools possess the talent to accomplish those feats, but will be pushed hard by other county teams in search of a breakthrough season.
Here’s a look at the top teams in Oakland County.
1. Farmington Hills Mercy — The back-to-back state champs start out as the team to beat this season.
Although the Marlins graduated a strong senior class, they return an abundance of talent in several areas and should be difficult to beat after also winning the county meet and going undefeated last year.
Juniors Maria Bargardi and Nikki Barczak are two of the best swimmers in the state.
Bargardi will look to defend her state title in the 200-yard individual medley, while Barczak has a chance to improve upon her second-place finishes in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events.
“What she brings to our group is tremendous competitiveness,” Mercy coach Shannon Dunworth said of Barczak. “Sometimes kids get lost in the sport and forget about the race. That’s one thing she never forgets.”
The Marlins are also returning junior Taylor Steffl and sophomore Sato Kakihara, solid individual swimmers as well as key members of relay teams in last year’s state finals.
Sophomore Emmy Orrico returns and should bolster the diving corps for Mercy.
2. Birmingham Marian — The Mustangs are making the move up to Division 1 this year after capturing back-to-back state titles in Division 3. Although the competition will be stiffer, Marian coach Bill Thompson believes his swimmers are ready for the challenge.
“Last year we were pretty competitive no matter where we were,” Thompson said. “We really want to expand the girls’ horizons.”
The good news for Marian is that it’s returning 20 swimmers from last season and more than a handful with Division 1 meet qualifying times.
Leading the way is junior backstroker Hayley Johnson, who placed second in the state last year in the 100 backstroke. Sophomore Jaynie Pulte had a solid year as a sprinter last year, but Thompson hopes she can become even more versatile this season.
“We want to get some great swims from her so she can get into the finals and race there,” Thompson said.
Junior Molly Schaefer can also be counted on to have a good season, and the Mustangs return four experienced divers and should be tough no matter which division they’re in.
3. Birmingham Seaholm — Replacing freestyle state champion Lauren Nichols would be a difficult task for most schools, but Seaholm has enough state-qualifying swimmers returning that it should finish near the top in the finals again this season.
Nichols will be swimming for Purdue, but the Maples are returning a fair amount of contributors from last year’s third-place finishing squad in Division 2.
“To replace the girls we lost, the kids are going to have to step up,” Seaholm coach Karl Hodgson said. “It’s basically going to come down to our depth.”
Seaholm, which finished third in Division 2 last year, is traditionally known for being among the deepest teams in the county, and will hope that continues this year.
Senior Melanie Rogers was huge for Seaholm in the sprint freestyle last year, finishing 13th at the state meet, and should be even better this year.
Senior Calley Murphy is very versatile and could be key to earning points this season.
“She can swim just about everything,” Hodgson said. “Her breaststroke and IM are very good.”
Murphy finished seventh in the 100 breaststroke at the state finals last season.
Nichols’ sister, junior Maddie Nichols, figures to be in the mix, as do sprint freestyle junior Sam Reynolds and middle distance freestyler Alex Stephens.
4. Birmingham Groves — The Falcons lost just two all-state qualifiers to graduation and have several more returning.
They have the talent to improve on last year’s fifth-place finish in Division 2, especially in the sprinting events.
Groves will look to sophomore Annie Lazor, who won the state 100 breaststroke, to lead the way. Lazor also placed third in the 200 IM event and achieved much in her first year with the Falcons.
“She has a work ethic and a knowledge of swimming and really sets an example by what she can do as a state champ,” Groves coach Matt Watson said. “I hope she can improve on her state meet time this year and make it the best time of her life.”
Groves has another top-tier breaststroker in junior Elise Dalley, who doubles as a sprint freestyler.
“She’s a big meet swimmer,” Watson said of Dalley, who placed third in the 100 breaststroke at the state meet last year.
Groves will also turn to divers Emma Brown, a senior who finished 12th in the state last year, and junior Gretchen Geist to have steady years.
5. Novi — After coming off a breakthrough season in which it placed third in the Division 1 state meet, Novi returns a deep squad that should once again be a factor in Division 1.
The bad news is that the Wildcats graduated a lot of their top swimmers, but the good news is that Novi has an impressive freshman class and enough returners to follow up and build on last year’s success.
“The trick to this year is going to be for the kids who just missed the state cut last year to place in the state meet,” Novi coach Scott Peeters said.
Depth is not a problem for Novi, as the team has more than 60 swimmers.
The Wildcats lost two top-tier swimmers in Lauren Kalinosky, who’ll be swimming at Eastern Michigan University, and Kerry Abel, who’s at the University of South Carolina, but return senior Meredith Cote, who is one of the fastest returning distance freestylers in Division 1.
“She’s huge and can swim a lot of other strokes,” Peeters said of Cote, who finished sixth in the 200 IM and seventh in the 500 freestyle at states last year.
Novi also returns junior Rebecca Berman, who Peters expects will be strong in the butterfly this year.
“The girls all liked being on the awards podium at state meet, so I think we can improve,” Peeters said.
6. Milford — Freestyle standout Rachel Johnson returned for her senior season ready to be the leader of her team and make this a special year.
One of the best swimmers in the state, Johnson won the Division 1 500 freestyle event last year with a time of 5:02.06.
But she has the potential to be even better this season, and her coach has noticed her improvements.
“She trained really hard this off-season,” coach Heather Lutz said. “She’s really confident, stronger and ready to make this year count.”
Not only has she improved as a swimmer, but Johnson, the sister of University of Michigan swimmer Liz Johnson, has been instrumental in demanding the most out of Milford’s fellow returners, Lutz said.
The Mavericks have close to 25 returning swimmers and are looking improve upon their 12th-place finish at states last year.
They’ll be in the mix in a competitive KLAA and have a few other seniors who should contribute to the team.
“We’re going to be pretty strong in our sprint freestyle events, but a little weaker in diving because we have a lot of new faces,” Lutz said.
7. South Lyon — Depth will be a key determinant to South Lyon’s success this year.
The Lions relied on star power last year to achieve a 10th-place finish in Division 1, but lacked the depth to score big at dual meets.
This year, most of the top scorers return, but South Lyon should also have some swimmers step in and make the team better from top to bottom.
“This year we have a lot of depth and return three out of four state qualifiers,” South Lyon coach John Burch said.
Junior Paige Drazga finished third in the state last year in the 100 butterfly and fifth in the 50 freestyle and should be one of the state’s top returners in those events this year.
“She’s got a pretty good chance of doing some really good things this year and maybe touching the top few spots at states, which is great,” Burch said.
Senior Julie Kapler scored in the 100 butterfly last year and should be even better this year, and senior diver Monica Gironza is one of the program’s best divers to compete at South Lyon, Burch said.
8. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood — Head coach Tony Kurth takes over as head coach for the Cranes and hopes to build off the success of last year’s third-place finish in Division 3.
Cranbrook lost Rachel Dekar, who was one of the best swimmers in the area and placed first or second in three state finals events last year, but the cupboard is far from bare.
Senior Maeve McHugh finished second in the state 200 freestyle and third in the 100 backstroke and was a member of Cranbrook’s winning 200 medley relay team along with Dekar.
Alex Miller, who placed seventh in the 100 butterfly, also returns, as do several divers.
Senior and state qualifier Meagan Davis should be strong, and the Cranes have six other divers returning.
“Our returning girls have worked really hard over the summer,” diving coach Scott McHugh said.
9. Bloomfield Hills Lahser — Following a fifth-place finish in Division 3, the Knights should again field a quality team that has a shot at states.
Senior Marissa Blumenthal placed second in the 100 butterfly and fourth in the 100 backstroke and will be an elite swimmer this season.
“She’s extremely hard-working and has been here a long time,” Lahser coach Mike Rado said. “We lost a really good senior class last year and we’re looking for leadership from this year’s seniors.”
The Knights will have to replace Katherine Carl, a state champion in two events, but should benefit from a difficult OAA I schedule that will prepare them for the state meet.
Lahser has 31 returners from last season and a large group of freshmen to help fill some voids.
Senior Kendra Krentz, who swims breaststroke and IM, will be looked upon to have a good year.
10. Stoney Creek — After winning OAA II last season and placing 13th at the Division 2 meet, the Cougars have moved up to OAA I and hope to continue their success against some of the area’s top teams.
“It’s incredibly competitive in OAA I,” Stoney Creek coach Traci Naylis said. “We had a young team last year and we should be even stronger.”
Sophomore freestyler Hannah Knapp returns, as do freestyler Nina Rusiewski and junior diver Meg Joiner.
“I think our biggest strength is a pretty good class of sophomores and juniors, and we hope to continue to be successful,” Naylis said.
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