Emily Mlynarek ’14 | Staff Writer

The men’s swimming and diving team fell short of a top ten place for first time in over ten years at the State Championship, earning 13^th overall at the Division II State Championships Saturday, March 9 at Oakland University.

“We performed a little short of our goals, but I am still proud of our team,” said team captain CJ Stafford ’13.

Although the team’s goal was to place in the top ten, placing 13^th with only seven swimmers in three relays and eight individual events is quite an accomplishment, Gunderson said.

“Everyone sets high goals. We’ve set ambitious goals based on last year’s results,” said Gunderson, referring to last year’s eight place finish.

Patrick Jackson ’14, last year’s 100 Butterfly champion, placed ninth in the event at the meet, missing All-State for the event, said Gunderson.

“Although Patrick was disappointed because he just missed getting into the top eight in the 100 Butterfly, he was able to bounce back in his other events,” said Gunderson. “Coming back after a tough race is something that is difficult to do and shows a strong athlete.”

Jackson went on to place eighth in the 100 Backstroke, earning All-State recognition, led the 200 Medley Relay, and anchored the 400 Freestyle relay.

“All of our swimmers stepped up in the 200 Medley,” said Gunderson.

Jackson and Jack Martin ‘14 started strong and in a last minute decision, Devlin Francis ‘15 and Nick Yoo ‘14 switched positions. Yoo swam butterfly and Francis anchored the relay with freestyle into seventh place and an All-State honors.

“This was a big risk and in the end it paid off,” said Gunderson. “We will definitely have a shot at beating our school record with this relay next year.”

At the state meet, the team focuses mainly on dropping time, Jackson said.

“Everyone swam season bests or close,” said Gunderson. “The vast majority of the swims were personal bests.”

Among those with personal bests were freshmen Jacob Montague in the 100 Backstroke and Douglas Graham, who swam the 200 Freestyle and the 100 Backstroke.

“I am very impressed with Jacob,” said Gunderson. “He is the first freshman I’ve seen in years to swim a 56 (seconds) in the 100 Back.”

One of the biggest challenges at this meet were that two teams, Ann Arbor Pioneer and Skyline, moved from Division I to Division II, both placing top ten in the meet. Holland High School was also tough competition and took first place overall, Gunderson said.

“Pioneer and Skyline were tough competition and took a lot of points,” said Gunderson. “It would have been interesting to see where we would have placed without those teams.”

Gunderson’s main focus for next season is to get more swimmers to step up and get State cuts in order to have a bigger state team.

“We didn’t have a lot of swimmers,” said Gunderson. “We had a handful that swam well, but we need bigger numbers to place higher.”

Next year, the team would like to once again earn a place in the top ten, Jackson said.

“We had many great swims and we should all be very proud of ourselves for a great season,” said Jackson.