Swimming: Huron finishes 10th at Division 1 State Finals

It finally happened!  The Division 1 MHSAA Girls’ High School Swim/Dive Championships were held on Jan. 15 (diving) and Jan. 16 (swimming) at Hudsonville High School.  Operating under an abundance of protocols, and after two months of uncertainty and on-again/off-again training regimens, the athletes did not disappoint.

The Huron River Rats had one of their highest placements in recent years, finishing 10th with 108 points.

Senior/captain Annie Costello, in her last high school competition, landed in a solid 2nd place (363.75) in diving. Senior Julie Park, also diving in her last pre-college appearance, finished 10th (305.00) to give the River Rats two top-10 finishers.

On Saturday in the swimming category, the Rats’ individual accomplishments included senior/captain Annaliese Streeter’s 3rd place finish in the 200 IM ( 2:05.58) and 5th in the 100 breaststroke; junior Zannah Baker’s 13th place finish (24.69) in the 50 free; senior/captain Emily Tran’s 14th place finish in the 100 fly (59.92); and freshman Jasmine Xu’s 16th place in the 100 free (53.84), and 17th, just out of scoring range, in the 100 breast (1:08.48).

Also swimming in individual events were Tran (100 back), Baker (100 free), and junior Emma Kaipainen (100 breast).

The 200 free relay will definitely be one for the Huron highlight reel, as the team of Streeter, Xu, junior Kathryn Hemmila and Baker touched in 3rd (1:37.52), just shy of Novi’s 2nd place squad (1:37.38). Huron’s 200 medley relay (Streeter, Kaipainen, Tran, and Baker) finished 11th, and the 400 free team (Xu, Hemmila, Kaipainen, and Tran) placed 16th (3:44.59).

Thanks are owed to the terrific Rat swim coaches, Andrea Stanczyk and Jennifer Zakrajsek, and dive coach, Vicki Kimball, and congratulations to the truly dominant Ann Arbor Pioneer team, who swam to glory and their 17th championship.