Sports
Marian Places Third Overall in State Swimming Finals
Pulte sisters power the Mustangs to 165 points in Division 1, while Andover competes in Division 2 for the first time.
Local high school girls swim teams finished strong in state finals this weekend.
Division 1
The Marian High School Mustangs, behind strong performances from sisters Jaynie and Mollie Pulte, finished third overall in the state finals Saturday at Eastern Michigan University in Yspsilanti.
The team finished with 165 points, a distant third behind Saline (243.5) and Division winner Farmington Hills Mercy (258), which continued its dominance despite moving from Division 2 this year.
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Leading the way for the Mustangs was the elder Pulte sister, Jaynie, a senior who won the 50-yard freestyle for the second consecutive year by setting a Division 1 record with a time of 23.23 seconds in Saturday's final. She had the best time in the preliminary round and again in the final to take home the title over Annie Jongekrijg of Lake Orion.
Pulte also earned All-State honors in the 100-yard butterfly. She finished in second place (55.87) about a second behind Maddie Wright from Waterford United (54.82).
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Pulte’s younger sister, Mollie, finished All-State in the 100-yard freestyle. The freshman finished in fifth place with a time of 51.84 seconds in the final, which was one of the closet heats in the entire tournament as the top five swimmers were separated by only a second and a half. Pulte also finished All-State in the 200-yard freestyle by claiming third place with a time of 1:52.47.
In the 200 yard freestyle relay, the sisters teamed up with Clare Nienstedt and Madison Taylor to finish in second place. The team from Hudsonville won the relay with a Division 1 record time of 1:35.46. Marian had a 1:35.89, which beat the previous Division 1 record as well.
West Bloomfield and Troy finished near the bottom in the team standings tied for 27th place (13 points) respectively.
The best result for West Bloomfield was a 11th place finish for Maison Moore in the 50 yard freestyle. The sophomore had a time of 24.40 in the finals. She missed qualifying for the top eight in the prelims by just a tenth of a second.
Both her times in the prelim and final races were faster than her qualifying time.
Troy’s best finish was in the 200 yard medley relay. Jacqueline Burke, Kristine Barlow, Tessa Lanzen and Lauren Dietz finished in 12th place.
The Colts best individual result was Barlow’s 14th place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke (1:07.17).
Division 2
When Mercy moved up to Division 1, the team most excited about the news might have been Holland.
The school had finished runner-up to the Marlins for the last three straight seasons. This year, with Mercy out of the way it was able to run away with the Division 2 team state title at the Holland Aquatics Center on Saturday.
It brought home individual titles in eight of the 11 swimming events on Saturday. Holland finished the meet with 419 points ahead of second place Seaholm (288 points) and Groves (216 points).
Bloomfield Hills Andover finished in 18th place and Royal Oak finished in 24th place out of 29 teams.
The Barons competed in Division 2 for the first time since MHSAA swimming went to three divisions, and were led by strong performances in diving. Sydney Levy (fifth place) and freshman Olivia Wagner (eighth place) finished in the top 10, and teammates Bianca Lazar (15th place) and Jessica Chudler (17th place) finished in the top 20.
Andover swimmers competed in all three relays and finished in the middle of the pack in all three events. Sophomore Sarah Kilbride had the best individual result for the Barons with a 19th place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke.
