Swimming & Diving: Eagles touch sixth at Division 2 State Finals
Skyline and Dexter both cracked the top 15 on Saturday at the MHSAA Division 2 Swimming and Diving State Finals at the Venema Aquatic Center on the campus of Calvin University.
The Eagles flew to a sixth-place finish with 142 points while the Dreadnaughts finished 15th with 65 points. East Grand Rapids finished first with 280 points with Jenison taking second (219) and Birmingham Seaholm taking third (183).
One of the many highlights of the meet came in diving where Dexter dominated the top of the standings. Senior Lily Witte won another state championship with a score of 554.65 points – and it wasn’t close. Okemos senior Caroline Li finished second with 492.25. Dexter’s other awesome senior diver, Vivian Kinnard, finished third with 440.05 points. Skyline sophomore Ella Bentley made a big splash with her 11th place finish score of 329.15.
Lily Cleason
Another big highlight came in the 100 backstroke where Skyline senior Lily Cleason touched first with a winning time of 53.95 seconds.
In the opening medley relay, Skyline’s team of Cleason, Ava Dawson, Jorie Cho and Shannen Lee finished ninth in 1 minute, 50.43 seconds. Dexter’s team of Harper Brown, Delaney Parker, Lily Witte and Marea Balcom took 13th in 1:51.21.
Cleason finished fourth in the 200 free with a time of 1:52.64. Teammate Annabelle Balazer, only a freshman, finished eighth in 1:54.20.
In the 100 free, Skyline junior Allie Deininger placed 12th in 54.45.
Balazer took second place in the 500 free with a time of 5:03.84, just a length or two behind Brighton’s Kelley Hassett (4:58.63).
Annabelle Balazer
In the 200 freestyle relay, Dexter’s team of Witte, Brown, Balcom and Natalie Koenn took 10th in 1:41.33. Skyline’s team of Deininger, Balazer, Sofia Torres and Jorie Cho was right behind the Dreadnaughts with an 11th place time of 1:41.42.
Dexter’s Brown, only a sophomore, touched 10th in the breaststroke with a time of 1:06.67.
In the 400 free relay, Skyline’s team of Balazer, Deininger, Cleason and Shannen Lee finished sixth in 3:34.68.
