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Team depth helps Lakeview claim 33rd straight All-City Boys Swim title

bill broderick, battle creek enquirer
·5 min read

BATTLE CREEK - When you are talking about swimming and you bring up depth, it usually is because you don't want to hit your head on the bottom of the pool.

But depth is also a big reason the Lakeview boys swim team dominates the All-City Meet every year, taking first in several events, but also loading up on a lot of seconds and thirds.

That was the case again as Lakeview won the annual All-City Boys Swimming and Diving Meet at Lakeview High School on Saturday.

Lakeview won the 2024 event for the 33 straight year as the Spartans finished first with 582 team points, followed by Harper Creek with 265 and Battle Creek Central with 230.

Lakeview swimmers Brayden Mentzer and Cody Richard congratulate each other after the 200 yard individual medley race during the All-City swim and dive meet at Lakeview High School on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2023.
Lakeview swimmers Brayden Mentzer and Cody Richard congratulate each other after the 200 yard individual medley race during the All-City swim and dive meet at Lakeview High School on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2023.

Even after Lakeview swept all 12 events, Lakeview coach Andy Fredenburg said he liked how his team's depth was a big factor in the team victory.

"We really make an effort to make sure we have four guys in every race, and in a meet like this, the fourth guys is scoring. So that depth helps. Having extra guys getting points is huge," Fredenburg said.

And many of those times, it was Lakeview taking first and second as the Spartans did in two of the three relays. In fact, the relays designated as the Lakeview 'B' teams won all three relays.

Lakeview won the 200 medley relay with the team of Jack Darland, Lavell Marshall, Hugo Carsky and Josh Lyon in a time of 1:47.57.

The 200 freestyle relay was won by the Lakeview 'B' team of Carsky, Josh Neal, Brayden Mentzer and Christian Hancock in 1:37.09.

And the 400 free relay was won by the Lakeview team of Hancock, Miles Tecumseh, Darland and Major Baumann in 3:34.78

"The guys get excited for this meet. The guys did a great job. They competed against each other a lot of times, as well as the other teams," Fredenburg said. "We have a decent group of state level guys and we were looking to get as much out of them as we can, so we looked to pair them up against each other. In that regard, I think we swam fantastic."

Still, what makes the All-City event fun is that the athletes get to compete for bragging rights in the city among friends and foes alike.

MORE HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING:

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Swim Preview 2023-24: The boys are back in the pool

Lakeview senior Cody Richard took two individual firsts in his final All-City Meet, winning the 100 backstroke in a time of 59.26 and winning the 200 IM in a time of 2:11.10.

"Winning this meet is pretty important to us," said Richard. "This meet is a ton of fun. We have a lot of friends on the teams at Harper Creek and Battle Creek Central. So it's good to compete against those guys."

Lakeview senior Daniel Borozan won the 200 free in a time of 1:50.93 and was on two second-place relay teams as well as finishing runner-up in the 100 butterfly.

The Spartans' Carsky, a foreign-exchange student from Slovakia, won the 50 free in 22.72 and finished first in the 100 butterfly in 54.63 to go along with his two first-place relay finishes.

Baumann, a Lakeview freshman, won the 100 free in 50.10 and took second in the 50 free.

Hancock, a junior who has already reached his state cut in the event, took first in the 500 free in 5:05.56 and was second in the 200 free.

Lakeview's Mentzer added a first place in the 100 breaststroke in 1:09.02 and a second in the 200 IM.

The Spartans' Peyton Elder won the diving event with a score of 247.05 with Battle Creek Central's Eli Tenbrink taking second and Harper Creek's Seamus Murray third.

Cameron Dunithan paced Harper Creek's effort with a third place in the 200 IM and was a part of the Beavers' second-place 200 free relay, along with the team of Sam Cook, Nikolay Ilyin and Dominik Papiez.

Papiez also took a third place for Harper Creek in the 100 butterfly with Cook placing third in the 100 free.

Lakeview won the 2024 All-City Swimming and Diving Meet at Lakeview High School on Saturday.
Lakeview won the 2024 All-City Swimming and Diving Meet at Lakeview High School on Saturday.

2024 All-City Boys Swimming and Diving Results

200 medley relay: 1. Lakeview (Darland, Marshall, Carsky, Lyon), 1:47.57; 2. Lakeview; 3. Harper Creek

200 freestyle: 1. Daniel Borozan (L), 1:50.93; 2. Christian Hancock (L); 3. Miles Tecumseh (L)

200 IM: 1. Cody Richard (L), 2:11.10; 2. Brayden Mentzer (L); 3. Cameron Dunithan (H)

50 freestyle: 1. Hugo Carsky (L), 22.72; 2. Major Baumann (L); 3. Jack Darland (L)

Diving: 1. Peyton Elder (L), 247.50; 2. Eli Tenbrink (BCC); 3. Seamus Murray (H)

100 butterfly: 1. Hugo Carsky (L), 54.63; 2. Daniel Borozan (L); 3. Dominik Papiez (H)

100 freestyle: 1. Major Baumann (L), 50.10; 2. Eamon Foljahn (L); 3. Sam Cook (H)

500 freestyle: 1. Christian Hancock (L), 5:05.56; 2. Kalvin Frank (L); 3. Daniel Arnold (L)

200 free relay: 1. Lakeview (Carsky, Neal, Mentzer, Hancock), 1:37.09; 2. Harper Creek; 3. Lakeview

100 backstroke: 1. Cody Richard (L), 59.26; 2. Jack Darland (L); 3. Josh Lyon (L)

100 breaststroke: 1. Brayden Mentzer (L), 1:09.02; 2. Kalvin Frank (L); Lavell Marshall (L)

400 freestyle relay: 1. Lakeview (Hancock, Tecumseh, Darland, Baumann), 3:34.78; 2. Lakeview; 3. BCC

Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @billbroderick.

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Lakeview boys swim team wins 2024 All-City Meet championship