Macomb Daily Article 02 08 09

High School Swimming Romeo again Team title is the Bulldogs' 9th since '98 By John Hetzler Macomb Daily Sports Writer Kendall Peake's eyes glistened with tears. His Romeo team had just won the team title at the Macomb County Swimming and Diving Championships for the ninth time since 1998, and his expression told how much this year's championship meant to him. "This is like No. 1 right here," Peake said after Romeo finished first at the county meet at L'Anse Creuse North on Saturday. "It seemed like going into the meet the margins were so slim. It was a crapshoot. It was up in the air. "These guys, I can't believe how well they held it together," Peake said. "They came in here and swam above and beyond. It's a very, very emotional (victory)." Led by senior swimmer of the meet Tyler Laurain and senior Mike Glinski, Romeo won five of the meet's 12 events to finish with 281 points at a meet in which several records fell. The Bulldogs needed county-meet records in both the 200-yard medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. Anchor Bay finished second in both races despite posting times that broke the previous meet records. "This meet was fast," Laurain said. "It just feels good to come out on top with all of the good teams here." Chippewa Valley, the dual-meet champion of the MAC White Division, placed second at the meet with 246 points, 35 behind Romeo, and Dakota finished third with 217. Anchor Bay, powered by double winner Aaron Shields, ended up fourth with 196.5 points, and Ford was fifth with 161. "This is the fastest county meet," De La Salle coach Joe Michol said. "I've been doing this since '95, and this is definitely the fastest I've seen. It's fun to see. We keep pushing each other." Shields, who won the 50 and 100 freestyles as a sophomore at last year's county meet, prevailed in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly on Saturday. He won the 200 free with a time of one minute and 48.26 seconds, and he captured the 100 fly in 54.37 seconds. Both times qualified him for the Division 1 state meet next month. "I wanted to show colleges that I could do something other than the 50 and 100," Shields, a junior at Anchor Bay, said. Warren-Mott sophomore Jeremy Podgorski joined Shields as a double winner. Podgorski took the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:06.58, and he prevailed in the 500 free with a Division 1-qualifying time of 4:56.54. Ford's Jack Dischler also posted a state-qualifying time in the 500 with a time of 4:59.39. "His turns are so fast," Warren-Mott coach Michelle Taylor said of Podgorski. "His turns are awesome. He's constantly working to drop his times." Buoyed by two strong dives in Friday's preliminaries, Roseville senior Dennis Defauw won the diving competition with a score of 341.95. "I hit a lot of my good dives," Defauw said. "I've been doing really well in practice." De La Salle sophomore Mack Biggert captured the 100 freestyle in 50.11 seconds, and he also finished second in the 50 free with a time of 22.62 seconds. "They were good swims, his two best swims of the year so far," Michol said. "Hopefully, he can keep improving." Chippewa Valley, which placed a top-six finisher in nine of 12 events, capped its strong day by winning the 400 freestyle relay. Michael Arena, Jeff Chew, Jeff Voss and Kevin Schnieders combined for a school-record time of 3:27.89. But the meet belonged to Romeo. Laurain won two events, the 50 free and 100 backstroke, and Glinski finished first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.53. "I felt good in the medley relay," Glinski said. "I had good rhythm." Everyone on the Bulldogs felt good in the medley relay as Laurain, Glinski, senior Devon Compeau and Max Hensel recorded a time of 1:40.79 to shatter the old meet record of 1:43.44 by almost three seconds. Anchor Bay's Andrew Leopardi, Nick Victor, Shields and Ben McVay finished second in the medley relay with a time of 1:42.76. "It kind of pumped us up," Glinski said. "To smash it felt pretty good and set us up for the rest of the day. Romeo and Anchor Bay had another duel in the 200 freestyle relay, the meet's race of the day. Compeau held off Shields, who swam an anchor split of 21.48 seconds over the final 50 yards, to win with a time of 1:32.27, just .02 ahead of the Tars. "When Devon touched out Aaron Shields, I lost my voice then and there," Peake said. "There was nothing more exciting." Except perhaps another county crown for the Bulldogs, who savored the victory. "It'll be another 20 years before I have group of kids like this," Peake said. "They're so special." The top eight finishers in each event receive medals. Competitors who place ninth through 16th receive a certificate from The Macomb Daily. Send comments to john.hetzler@macombdaily.com. Macomb Daily photo by David Dalton Anchor Bay junior Aaron Shields swims to victory in the 100 butterfly, his second triumph of the day at the Macomb County Swimming and Diving Championships.

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