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Emily Mlynarek ’14 | Staff Writer
After winning the Mac Red Division championships on Saturday, Feb. 23, the men’s swimming and diving team is preparing to send their state team to the Division II State Championships on March 9 and March 10, at Oakland University.
“Our team goal is to have a top ten finish this year,” said head coach Eric Gunderson. “It would be even nicer to improve from last year’s standings.”
Last year, the team placed eighth in the state division, which is their lowest ranking in the past four seasons, Gunderson said.
“We are not as numbered as we have been in previous years,” said Gunderson. “But we have very strong swimmers.”
Gunderson said he has high expectations for Patrick Jackson ‘14, last year’s 100 Butterfly State Champion, and team captain Nick Yoo ’14, who has the potential to place in the top eight in the same event. Jackson is also swimming the 100 Backstroke.
“My personal goal is to place higher than I did at the meet last year,” said Yoo, who placed ninth in last year’s event.
The state team consists of seven swimmers, all of whom earned Division II qualifying times throughout this season, Yoo said.
Devlin Francis ’15 will be swimming 100 Butterfly. Jack Martin and Sam Wilkinson, both ’14, will be swimming in relays. In addition, two freshmen on the state team are Douglas Graham and Jacob Montague, both have qualified in the 100 backstroke, Gunderson said.
“Being a freshman, I have to work extra hard to prove that I deserve to be on the state team,” said Montague. “Coming into the season, I didn’t expect to make it to states, so I just worked hard from day one and hoped for the best.”
The preliminary meet begins at noon on Friday, March 8 and the championship meet is at noon on Saturday, March 9, Gunderson said. At the championship meet, the top eight swimmers in the Division will compete for the state title and the top nine through 16 swimmers will compete in a consolation heat.
On Tuesday, March 5, Eric Addy ’14 and Erick Romer ’15 qualified for the state meet in diving, Gunderson said.
“The most intense thing about states is the weeks leading up to the meet,” said Montague. “In order to post your best time or score, you have to work harder than you have all year, which is not always fun but it pays off.”
In the weeks leading to the state championships, Gunderson said the team is focusing on perfecting their individual strokes, pace and starts, all of which have an extraordinary impact on the result of a race.
“The guys have already put in the effort that they needed to throughout the season,” said Gunderson. “Now they are tapering in order to have their best races.”
Photos By Emily Mlynarek ’14
