SHS swimmers end season at Division 2 state finals
HOLLAND — It might not have been the finish the Sturgis swim team was hoping for, but there were still some positives coming out of this past weekend's state finals.
The Trojans competed in the Division 2 finals held at Holland Aquatic Center. It was a step up in competition for the Trojans, who have routinely been slotted in Division 3.
Officially, they finished in a tie with Cousino High School in 30th place overall with six total points. Claiming first place overall was Farmington Hills Mercy, who piled up 326 team points, while Seaholm came in second with 198 and Northview was third with 172. Ann Arbor Skyline finished fourth with 164 and Grosse Point South claimed fifth at 156 team points.
The Trojan goal was to have a swim make it to the second day. They accomplished that in the 200 freestyle relay. The team of Kaylee Draper, Ainsley Gump, Hannah Garbine and Emma Garbine finished 14th at the finals with a time of 1:42.03.
"I’m very proud of how the girls performed, we accomplished our goals and they were making it to state and competing on Saturday," Sturgis coach Lisa Gottschalk said.
Sturgis had eight flights qualify for the D2 finals. In order to reach the second day of competition, teams needed to finish in the Top 16 spots on Friday.
The 200 medley relay team of Draper, Kenzy Triezenberg, Gump and Emma Garbine swam to 18th in the preliminary round at 1:54.45. Gump finished 29th in the 200 individual medley at 2:20.96, Emma Garbine was 32nd in the 50 freestyle at 25.72 seconds.
Draper swam to 20th in the 100 freestyle at 55.48 seconds, Gump came in 26th at 55.82 seconds while Emma Garbine finished 30th overall at 56.00 seconds.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Sturgis' team of Draper, Gump, Garbine and Garbine finished 15th in the prelims. They had a qualifying time of 1:42.67.
Draper's time in the 100 backstroke was 1:02.39, good for 20th.
Kenzy Triezenberg swam a time of 1:13.75 in the 100 breaststroke, good for 37th.
Each of the swimmers will be coming back to Sturgis next year as they are underclassmen.
Ann Arbor Pioneer won the Division 1 finals with 301 points, Grand Haven finished second with 237.5 and Jenison came in third with 228.5 points. East Grand Rapids won the Division 3 finals, piling up 420 points. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood was second with 219 and Bloomfield Hills Marian came in third with 214 points.
Contact Sports Editor Brandon Watson at bwatson@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as twitter, @BwatsonSJ.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Sturgis swimmers end year in 30th place at state finals
