Seaholm stakes claim to Oakland County crown
TICKET TO GLIDE: Clarkston's Kenneth Stelpflug races towards the finish during the 500 freestyle at Saturday's Oakland County Championships. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
LAKE ORION — Kenneth Stelpflug knows the importance of the championship season in swimming. The Clarkston senior made sure he opened up that final stretch with a strong kick.
He was one of only two individuals to win two open events at the prestigious Oakland County Boys Swimming & Diving Championships Saturday at Lake Orion High School.
Stelpflug won the 200 free (1:43.69) and 500 free (4:46.19), the latter being one of the state’s top efforts in the event this season in his final county meet. He punched his fists in the air after the win in the 200 free and led the whole way in the 500 free.
“It’s really exciting to win at the county,” said Stelpflug, who is head for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and has goals of winning the Division 500 free state crown nest month. “I think this will help me with some confidence for (the state meet). I did a lot better here than last season.”
Stelpflug also placed on two top-10 relays and his performance is one of many standout efforts on a day which signals the final month of the season.
Meanwhile, Birmingham Seaholm had watched neighbors Birmingham Groves and Birmingham Brother Rice claim the crown the past three years. Groves won in both 2009 and 2010, while Rice was champion in 2008 and won 15 titles total in the 1990s and 2000s.
The 2011 title marked Seaholm’s first since 2007 and only third crown since 1986.
“As beat up as they are, they were able to place where they needed to place to bring home the title,” said veteran Seaholm coach Tom Wyllie. “I think they might start thinking that ‘if we can swim like that if we’re sore and tired, what can we do when we’re feeling good?’”
Perhaps the county win is a good omen for the Maples, as many of the previous winners have gone on to finish first or second in the state meet.
Seaholm amassed an impressive 332 points to topple a talented field which featured eight state-ranked teams and six other schools that were listed as honorable mention inn one of the state’s three divisions entering the week.
Groves, ranked second Division 2,was a distant second with 257.5 points, with Novi (173), Birmingham Brother Rice (160), Clarkston (149), Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood (144), Lake Orion (143.5), South Lyon Unified (131), White Lake Lakeland (128) and Novi Detroit Catholic Central (70.5) rounded out the top 10 in a field where 28 schools registered points.
Seaholm won by 75 points despite Wyllie not letting up on the Maples’ intense training in recent weeks. Seaholm’s goal is to win the D-2 state crown next month.
Seaholm scored in all 11 events, winning three of them. Spencer Rogers touched first in the 50 free (21.90) as the Maples’ sole individual winner. Connor Saeli, Matthew Wolkhamer, Jim LaFave and Rogers took the crown in the 200 medley relay (1:39.81), while Rogers, Mike Shaben, Nick Wyllie and Jack Howard joined forces for a slim victory in the 200 free relay (1:29.43).
“We watched Groves win it last year and we’re kind of following in Groves’ footsteps a bit,” said Rogers, one of the Maples’ team captains. “It’s good to win this one, especially since it’ll be almost exactly what states will be like, except for the fact a couple of (Division) 1 schools were here. Our goal is (to win) the state meet.”
Novi became the first non-Birmingham school to finish among the top three since Rochester Adams was second back in 2000. Groves, Brother Rice and Seaholm had dominated those spots dating back a decade, with Groves finishing in the top two for 10 straight seasons.
“I’ve been here since 2003 and I know we’ve been there (in the top two) every time since then,” said Groves coach Matt Watson.
Novi’s Joon Chuang won the 200 IM (1:58.17) to lead Novi, as the Wildcats scored high in multiple events
Lake Orion’s Jacob Lindquist became only the second swimmer in the state this season to eclipse the one-minute barrier in the 100 breaststroke, clocking in at 59.95 in the final open event of the day.
Groves’ foursome of Scott Crosthwaite, Noah Zamler, Sam Cusimano and Rob McGowan had the top effort in the 400 free (3:16.01). Zamler also won the 100 backstroke (54.83).
Cranbrook Kingswood’s Justin Glanda won the 100 butterfly (51.52) and 100 free (47.10) to join Clarkston’s Stelpflug as a double-winner.
On Friday, South Lyon’s Unified’s Dan Gironza won the 1-meter diving event with 414.70 points, one of five divers from that program to finish amongst the top 16.
37TH ANNUAL OAKLAND COUNTY
BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Feb. 5 at Lake Orion)
TEAM SCORES — 1. Birmingham Seaholm, 332; 2. Birmingham Groves, 257.5; 3.Novi, 173; 4. Birmingham Brother Rice, 160; 5. Clarkston, 149; 6. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 144; 7. Lake Orion,143.5; 8.South Lyon Unified, 131; 9. White Lake Lakeland, 128; 10. Novi Detroit Catholic Central, 87.5; 11. Walled Lake Northern, 78; 12. (tie) North Farmington, 70.5; Bloomfield Hills Lahser, 70.5; 14. Farmington- Harrison Unified, 59; 15. Troy, 54; 16. Berkley, 49; 17. Rochester, 44; 18. Rochester Adams, 37; 19. (tie) Troy Athens, 25; Rochester Stoney Creek, 25; 21. (tie) Walled Lake Western, 23; Auburn Hills Avondale, 22; Madison Heights Lamphere, 22; 24. West Bloomfield, 17; 25. Milford, 15; 26. Bloomfield Hills Andover, 4.5; 27. 27. (tie) Waterford United, 2; Birmingham Detroit Country Day, 2; 29. (tie) Royal Oak, 0; Walled Lake Central, 0; Ferndale, 0; Clawson, 0; Southfield Unified, 0; Hazel Park, 0; Madison Heights Bishop Foley, 0; Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, 0; Holly, 0; Ortonville Brandon, 0; Oxford, 0.
200 MEDLEY RELAY — 1. Birmingham Seaholm (Connor Saeli, Matthew Wolkhamer, Jim LaFave, Spencer Rogers) 1:39.81; 2. Bloomfield Hills Crabnrook Kingswood, 1:41.20; 3. Birmingham Groves, 1:41.71; 4. White Lake Lakeland, 1:41.99; 5. Clarkston, 1:42.00; 6. Novi, 1:42.25; 7.Lake Orion, 1:43.11; 8. Novi Detroit Catholic Central, 1:43.42; 9. Troy, 1:43.83; 10. Walled Lake Northern, 1:45.03; 11. South Lyon Unified, 1:54.30; 12. Rochester Adams, 1:45.50; 13. Birmingham Brother Rice, 1:45.75; 14. Bloomfield Hills Lahser, 1:45.84; 15. Walled Lake Western, 1:46.21; 16. North Farmington, 1:46.74.
200 FREESTYLE — 1. Kenneth Stelpflug (Clarkston) 1:43.69; 2. Rob McGowan (Birmingham Groves) 1:45.05; 3. Joe Krause (Birmingham Brother Rice) 1:46.47; 4. Zach Diener (Lake Orion) 1:47.22; 5. Christian Calverley (Madison Heights Lamphere) 1:47.35; 6. Nick Wyllie (Birmingham Seaholm) 1:47.88; 7. Andrew Ao (Novi) 1:48.45; 8. Peter Palmer (Birmingham Brother Rice) 1:48.96; 9. (tie) Alec Girdler (Birmingham Seaholm) 1:49.40; Patrick Sheppell (Birmingham Seaholm) 1:49.40; 11. Evan Bischoff (South Lyon Unified) 1:49.81; 12. Travis Vincent (Novi) 1:50.50; 13. Drake Michalzuk (Birmingham Brother Rice) 1:51.11; 14. Jai Singh (Rochester) 1:51.60; 15. Steven Neill (Farmington-Harrison Unified) 1:51.64; 16. Danny Girdler (Birmingham Seaholm) 1:51.87.
200 IM — 1. Joon Chung (Novi) 1:58.17; 2. Matthew Liu (Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood) 1:59.68;3. Joe Brinkman (Novi Detroit Catholic Central) 1:59.73; 4. Noah Zamler (Birmingham Groves) 2:00.64; 5. Darwin Hasu (Troy Athens) 2:02.40; 6. Jacob Carl (Rochester) 2:02.93; 7. Scott Crosthwaite (Birmingham Groves) 2:03.10; 8. Nick Leshok (North Farmington) 2:03.91; 9. Jack Howard (Birmingham Seaholm) 2:04.40; 10. Grant Borregard (Farmington-Harrison Unified) 2:05.24; 11. Alex Yu (Rochester Stoney Creek) 2:05.38; 12. Matthew Wolkhamer (Birmingham Seaholm) 2:06.41; 13. Sam Cusimano (Birmingham Groves) 2:07.06; 14. Jong Min Kim (Novi) 2:07.08; 15. Connor Saeli (Birmingham Seaholm) 2:07.34; 16. Zack Morgan (Waterford United) 2:07.46.
50 FREESTYLE — 1. Spencer Rogers (Birmingham Seaholm) 21.90; 2. Tony Cipponeri (White Lake Lakeland) 22.24; 3. Petar Simic (Lake Orion) 22.29; 4. Cody Wolfrom (Bloomfield Hills Lahser) 22.70; 5. Steven Nelson (Clarkston 22.74; 6. Evan Darbyshire (Walled Lake Northern) 22.84; 8. Mike Shaben (Birmingham Seaholm) 22.87; 9. Robert Kamenec (Birmingham Brother Rice) 22.88; 10. (tie) Cameron Wasko (North Farmington) 23.03; John Hammond (Birmingham Groves) 23.03; 12. Andrew Garcia (Walled Lake Western) 23.12; 13. Daniel Hernandez (Birmingham Seaholm) 23.16; 14. Dan Szuba (Novi Detroit Catholic Central) 23.17; 15. Logan Dankovich (Birmingham Brother Rice) 23.18; 16. Patrick Nodland (Birmingham Brother Rice) 23.26.
1-METER DIVING — 1. Dan Gironza (Southn Lyon Unified) 414.70; 2. Elliot Littman (Berkley) 399.55; 3. Aaron Harris (Birmingham Groves) 378.50; 4. Scott Jessup (Milford) 374.10; 5. Brendan Oshea (South Lyon Unified) 349.40; 6. Alex Canadi (South Lyon Unified) 322.90; 7. Cameron Sawyer (South Lyon Unified) 315.25; 8. Derek Kim (Novi) 309.20; 9. Shameek (West Bloomfield) 302.55; 10. Tommy Fink (Birmingham Seaholm) 300.90; 11. Charlie Maurer (Lake Orion) 294.15; 12. (tie) Brad Horvath (Lake Orion) 293.00; Connor Yoe (Bloomfield Hills Andover) 293.00; 14. Joey Zendejas (Clarkston) 281.75; 15. Levi Oxner (South Lyon Unified) 281.75; 16. Jordan Masek (Waterford United) 265.20.
100 BUTTERFLY — 1. Justin Glanda (Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood) 51.52; 2. Jeremy Raisky (Berkley) 52.41; 3. Miles MacDonald (Troy) 53.96; 4. Cameron Wasko (North Farmington) 55.10; 5. Zachardy Rabideau (Clarkston) 55.38; 6. Jim LaFave (Birmingham Seaholm) 55.60; 7. John Hammond (Birmingham Groves) 55.63; 8. Josh Murrell (Birmingham Brother Rice) 55.68; 9. Andrew Acosta (Birmingham Brother Rice) 55.83; 10. Alex Chow (Walled Lake Northern) 56.11; 11. Sam Cusimano (Birmingham Groves) 56.18; 12. Nick Baldus (Novi Detroit Catholic Central) 56.42; 13. Jai Singh (Rochester) 56.62; 14. Brad Hassberger (Rochester Adams) 56.78; 15. Brad Larsen (Auburn Hills Avondale) 56.95; 16. Jake Wasko (North Farmington) 57.44.
100 FREESTYLE — 1. Justin Glanda (Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood) 47.10; 2. Rob McGowan (Birmingham Groves) 47.22; 3. Joe Krause (Birmingham Brother Rice) 48.54; 4. Tony Cipponeri (White Lake Lakeland) 49.37; 5.Ryan Johnson (White Lake Lakeland) 49.39; 6. Spencer Rogers (Birmingham Seaholm) 49.44; 7. Cody Wolfrom (Bloomfield Hills Lahser) 49.97; 8. Darwin Hsu (Troy Athens) 50.02; 9. Evan Bischoff (South Lyon Unified) 50.06; 10. Andrew Ao (Novi) 50.13; 11. Eric Gensheimer (Farmington-Harrison Unified) 50.19; 12. (tie) Alex Nault (Bloomfield Hills Lahser) 50.25; Joe Brinkman (Novi Detroit Catholic Central) 50.25; 14. Peter Palmer (Birmingham Brother Rice) 50.45; 15. Mike Shaben (Birminghamm Seaholm) 50.49; 16. Joe Morgan (Birmingham Brother Rice) 50.67.
500 FREESTYLE — 1. Kenneth Stelpflug (Clarkston) 4:46.19; 2. Patrick Sheppell (Birmingham Seaholm) 4:49.87; 3. Alec Girdler (Birmingham Seaholm) 4:50.55; 4. Steven Niell (Farmington-Harrison Unified) 4:50.85; 5. Scott Crosthwaite (Birmingham Groves) 4:52.27; 6. Jacob Carl (Rochester) 4:52.29; 7. Nick Wyllie (Birmingham Seaholm) 4:52.32; 8. Danny Girdler (Birmingham Seaholm) 5:00.26; 9. Kyle Inch (Clarkston) 5:00.45; 10. Luyi Pinter (Birmingham Seaholm) 5:00.96; 11. Christian Calverley (Madison Heights Lamphere) 5:01.05; 12. Drake Michalzuk (Birmingham Brother Rice) 5:03.03; 13. Zach Diener (Lake Orion) 5:03.08; 14. Travis Vincent (Novi) 5:03.43; 15. Colin Brinkman (Novi Detroit Catholic Central) 5:05.00; 16. Brien Moffitt (Rochester) 5:05.67.
200 FREESTYLE RELAY — 1. Birmingham Seaholm (Spencer Rogers, Mike Shaben, Nick Wyllie, Jack Howard) 1:29.43; 2. Birmingham Groves, 1:29.68; 3. Birmingham Brother Rice, 1:30.52; 4. Lake Orion, 1:31.37; 5. Clarkston, 1:31.55; 6. Novi, 1:32.27; 7. South Lyon Unified, 1:32.51; 8. Walled Lake Northern, 1:33.19; 9. Rochester Adams, 1:33.81; 10. Walled Lake Western, 1:34.19; 11. North Farmington, 1:35.38; 12. Farmington-Harrison Unified, 1:35.47; 13. West Bloomfield, 1:35.65; 14. Rochester, 1:36.35; 15. Rochester Stoney Creek, 1:36.97; 16. Birmingham Detroit Country Day, 1:37.29.
100 BACKSTROKE — 1. Noah Zamler (Birmingham Groves) 54.83; 2. Ryan Johnson (White Lake Lakeland) 56.25; 3. Brad Larsen (Auburn Hills Avondale) 56.27; 4. Jeremy Raisky (Berkley) 56.33; 5. Daniel Burton (Novi Detroit Catholic Central) 56.45; 6. Steven Nelson (Clarkston) 56.79; 7. Nathan Wagner (South Lyon Unified) 57.01; 8. Rohan Tangri (Troy) 57.12; 9. Jim LaFave (Birmingham Seaholm) 57.19; 10. Alex Hogan (Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood) 57.22; 11. Sean Ryan (Novi Detroit Catholic Central) 57.27; 12. Grant Borregard (Farmington Harrison Unified) 57.30; 13. Connor Saeli (Birmingham Seaholm) 57.63; 14. Tom Power (Birmingham Groves) 57.96; 15. Alex Yu (Rochester Stoney Creek) 58.29; 16. Donald DeSantis (Birmingham Groves) 58.80.
100 BREASTSTROKE — 1. Jacob Linquist (Lake Orion) 59.95; 2. Joon Chuang (Novi) 1:00.18; 3. Matthew Liu (Bloomfield Hills CVranbrook Kingswood) 1:01.83; 4. Joon Min Kim (Novi) 1:02.27; 5. Jack Howard (Birmingham Seaholm) 1:02.94; 6. Kyle Walsh (Rochester Stoney Creek) 1:03.29; 7. Matthew Wolkhamer (Birmingham Seaholm) 1:03.57; 8. Nick Leshok (North Farmington) 1:03.68; 9. David Patawaran (White Lake Lakeland) 1:04.19; 10. John Dunnuck (South Lyon Unified) 1:04.68; 11. Clark Lindsay (Birmingham) 1:04.71; 12. Ryan Newman (Novi Detroit Catholic Central) 1:04.79; 13. Thomas Nowinski (Auburn Hills Avondale) 1:04.88; 14. John Schihl (Bloomfield Hills Lahser) 1:04.97; 15. John Prentice (Birmingham Groves) 1:05.07; 16. Michael Lin (Troy) 1:05.18.
400 FREESTYLE RELAY — 1. Birmingham Groves (Scott Crostwaite, Noah Zamler, Sam Cusimano, Rob McGowan) 3:16.01; 2. Birmingham Seaholm, 3:18.83; 3. Birmingham Brother Rice, 3:18.89; 4. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 3:20.01; 5. Novi, 3:20.14; 6. White Lake Lakeland, 3:22.62; 7. Lake Orion, 3:23.17; 8. Walled Lake Northern, 3:23.45; 9. Bloomfield Hills Lahser, 3:26.91; 10. Farmington/Harrison Unified, 3:27.34; 11. North Farmington, 3:27.52; 12. Novi Detroit Catholic Central, 3:27.58; 13. Troy, 3:28.49; 14. Rochester Adams, 3:29.26; 15. Rochester, 3:31.62; 16. Madison Heights Lamphere, 3:34.64.
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Category: Auburn Hills Avondale, Clarkston, Lake Orion, Oxford, Prep Wraps, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Rochester Stoney Creek, Troy, Troy Athens
