2011 All-Area Boys Swimming & Diving: Tankers glide to plenty of success

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

Although there were no state champions from the area this season, boys swimmers and divers from made an impact in 2010-11 throughout Oakland County and the state as well.

All of that is evidenced by the talent represented on the second annual www.northoaklandsports.com All-Area team. In all but the diving and 100 freestyle, this postseason squad features top 16 state meet finishers.

Lake Orion, the only area team to finish in the top 10 at the state meet, leads the way with six first-team event, while Rochester, Rochester Stoney Creek, Clarkston, Troy and Troy Athens hold down the other spots in the first team.

Lake Orion’s Paul Fairman was selected as the coach of the year for leading the Dragons to another strong season which saw the Dragons place in the top-10 at every large meet, including eighth at the Division 1 state finals.

The second team and honorable mention lists features a wide variety of athletes that posted respectable times and finishes at the various league meets, Oakland County championships or one of three state meets.

Athletes were allowed just one spot for open events on the first team, excluding relays, while those athletes were removed from second-team or honorable mention status.

Below are the profiles of the athletes selected to the first team, as chosen by NOS staff in conjunction with area coaches.

FIRST TEAM

200 MEDLEY RELAY: LAKE ORION (PETAR SIMIC, JACOB LINDQUIST, WILL CAVNDER, ZACH DIENER): This foursome was tops in the area at the end of the season, claiming 11^th at the Division 1 state finals (1:39.37). They swam 1:39.30 in the prelims. This unit was also fifth at the OAA Red Division league meet and seventh at the Oakland County Championships. Simic is a senior, Lindquist and Cavender are juniors and Diener a sophomore. All but Cavender placed in the top 16 at the state meet in individual events.

200 FREESTYLE: ZACH DIENER, Lake Orion: This sophomore had an exceptional season and is thinking big for the future. In his best event, the 200 free, he was fourth at the county, won the OAA Red Division meet and placed sixth at the Division 1 state meet (1:42.93). His best effort this season was 1:42.88. Diener also placed 13^th at the county in the 100 free and swam sixth in the 500 free (4:55.45) at the county.

200 IM: DARWIN HSU, Troy Athens: One of the area’s most versatile swimmers, this junior landed in the top 16 at the Division 1 state finals in at least one event for the third straight season. In the 200 IM, he was fifth at the county, won the OAA Blue Division title and finished 12^th at the state finals (1:59.21). He was also the league champ in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.53), placed eighth at the county and finished 14^th at the state meet in the same event.

50 FREESTYLE: PETAR SIMIC, Lake Orion: There may have been some confusion with the spelling of Simic’s first name in his career, but definitely not his skill level and effort. Simic finished second at the Division 1 state meet in the 50 free in 21.59, just four one- hundredths of a second behind Rockford’s Eric Chisholm. He swam 21.53 in the prelims to set the school record. Simic, who was also the OAA-Red champion and a fifth-place finisher at the county, claimed third at the league meet in the 100 free (48.63).

DIVING: JOEY ZENDEJAS, Clarkston: Just a freshman, Zendejas is slowly following his brother Jordan’s footsteps, as he was a multi-year state qualifier and a state champion as a senior. The youngest Zendejas was 14^th at the county, second at the OAA Red Division league meet and 22^nd at the Division 1 state finals. His 304.5 at the league meet was his best and it came against a group of eventual state qualifiers.

100 BUTTERFLY: MILES MCDONALD, Troy: A junior, McDonald saw drastic improvements over the previous season which resulted in him placing seventh at the Division 1 state finals in the fly in 52.50. He was also second at the OAA Red Division league meet and third at the county in the same event, while McDonald was also fifth at the league meet and ninth in the state in the 200 free (1:44.03) along with swimming on two state-qualifying relays.

100 FREESTYLE: ERIC HEINIRCH, Rochester Stoney Creek: Although Heinrich did not place at the state meet in the 100 free, the sophomore still had a solid season placing at multiple meets. A state qualifier on two relays, Heinrich was 17^th at the county and second at the league meet (50.61) in the 100 free. He was also the league champ in the OAA Blue Division in the 50 free (22.94).

500 FREE: KENNETH STELPFLUG, Clarkston: The most dominant swimmer in school history, Stelpflug set school records in 10 of the 11 events during his junior and seniors seasons. Although he battled the flu bug at the Division 1 state finals, he still placed in two events, finishing eighth in the 200 free (1:43.69) and ninth in the 500 free (4:41.08) coming out of the consolation heat. He was the Oakland county champion in both events, and also claimed the OAA Red Division championship in the 500 free (4:39.89) and 200 IM (1:46.69). He has signed with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY: LAKE ORION (PETAR SIMIC, JACOB LINDQUIST, ZACH DINER, DREW FRITSCH): Fritsch joined the others on this state-placing relay as a senior and helped this unit finish fourth at the Division 1 state finals in 1:27.11. They were also a strong third at the OAA Red Division league meet and fourth at the county championships.

100 BACKSTROKE: ROHAN TANGRI, Troy: The Colts’ second member of the first-team, this junior swam in four events at the state meet and was versatile enough to compete in a wide variety of events throughout the season. In the backstroke, he was third at the OAA Red Division league meet, eighth at the county and 11^th at the Division 1 state meet (53.92). He also swam ninth in the 100 free at the league meet and was 27^th at the state meet in the 50 free (22.66) among his top finishes this season.

100 BRESTSTROKE: JACOB LINDQUIST, Lake Orion: One of three Dragons to place in the top eight at the Division 1 state finals in an open event, this junior cruised into fourth position in the breaststroke (58.00) at the state meet at Oakland University, good for a school record. He was also the OAA Red Division champ in the breaststroke while placing fifth in the 100 free (48.89). He was also the county champ in the breaststroke.

AT-LARGE: JACOB CARL, Rochester: Only a sophomore, Carl is already making headway as a freestyler and ranks on the school’s top-five all-time list in multiple events with two years of eligibility to go. He was second at the OAA White Division league meet (2:04.06) in the 200 IM and sixth at the county in the same event. His best was 2:03.88. Carl’s signature event in the 500 free, where he placed at the state meet for the second straight year. Carl was seventh this season in the 500 in a career-best 4:43.33.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY: LAKE ORION (ZACH DIENER, JACOB LINDQUIST, WILL CANENDER, PETAR SIMIC): The same foursome as the 200 medley relay, this unit wrapped up the season together with a state medal, placing eighth at the Division 1 state meet in 3:14.31. They also finished seventh at the county meet and third at the OAA Red Division league championships.

COACH OF THE YEAR: PAUL FAIRMAN, Lake Orion: Fairman left Troy in the late 1990s and came over to Lake Orion to start the boys swimming and diving program in 1998-99. Although it took a few years to root the program, Fairman has been successful with the Dragons with several top-20 state-meet finishes. This year’s group placed seventh out of nearly 40 schools at the Oakland County meet with 143.5 points and followed that up by placing third (308 points) at the OAA Red Division league meet behind state powerhouses Birmingham Seaholm (Division 2 state champions) and Birmingham Groves (D-2 champs in 2010). The Dragons were 7-2 overall in dual meets, including 3-2 against OAA-Red competition, and wound up eighth with 110 points at the state finals. It marked the third time in the program’s history that the Dragons were top-10 in the state. The Dragons also won the Saginaw Heritage Relays.

2011 ALL-AREA BOYS SWIMMING & DIVING TEAM

FIRST TEAM

EVENT                                   NAME                                   SCHOOL

200 Medley Relay:              Will Cavender                     Lake Orion

200 Medley Relay:              Jacob Lindquist                 Lake Orion

200 Medley Relay:              Petar Simic                          Lake Orion

200 Medley Relay:              Zach Diener                         Lake Orion

200 Freestyle:                       Zach Diener                        Lake Orion

200 IM:                                    Darwin Hsu                          Troy Athens

50 Freestyle:                          Petar Simic                          Lake Orion

Diving:                                       Joe Zendejas                      Clarkston

100 Butterfly:                        Miles MacDonald              Troy

100 Freestyle:                       Eric Heinrich                      Roch. Stoney Creek

500 Freestyle:                       Kenneth Stelpflug             Clarkston

200 Freestyle Relay:          Petar Simic                          Lake Orion

200 Freestyle Relay:          Jacob Lindquist                 Lake Orion

200 Freestyle Relay:          Zach Diener                         Lake Orion

200 Freestyle Relay:          Drew Fritsch                       Lake Orion

100 Backstroke:                    Rohan Tangri                      Troy

100 Breaststroke:                 Jacob Lindquist                Lake Orion

At-Large:                                 Jacob Carl                            Rochester

400 Free Relay:                    Petar Simic                          Lake Orion

400 Free Relay:                    Zach Diener                         Lake Orion

400 Free Relay:                    Jacob Lindquist                 Lake Orion

400 Free Relay:                    Will Cavender                     Lake Orion

COACH OF THE YEAR

Paul Fairman                          Lake Orion                            12^th Season

SECOND TEAM

200 Medley Relay: Clarkston (Steven Nelson, jr., Kenneth Stelpflug, sr., Zachary  Rabideau, jr., Eric Misteravich, soph.); 200 Freestyle: Jay Singh, Rochester sr.; 200 IM: Alex Yu, Rochester Stoney Creek jr.; 50 Freestyle: Chris Charters Troy, jr..; Diving: Charlie Maurer, Lake Orion sr.; 100 Butterfly: Zachary Rabideau, Clarkston jr.; 100 Freestyle: Brien Feng, Rochester Adams sr.;  500 Freestyle: Brien Moffitt, Rochester soph.;  200 Freestyle Relay: Rochester Stoney Creek (Patrick Connors, sr., Alex Yu, jr.; Eric Heinrich, soph., Kyle Walsh, soph.); 100 Backstroke: Steven Nelson, Clarkston jr. 100 Breaststroke: Kyle Walsh, Rochester Stoney Creek soph.;  400 Free Relay: Kenneth Stelpflup, sr., Zachary Rabideau, jr., Kramer Kamp, sr.,  Steven Nelson, jr.).

HONORABLE MENTIONS

200 Medley Relay: Rochester Stoney Creek (Chris Marten, jr., Kyle Walsh, soph., Alex Yu, jr. Eric Heinrich, soph.); Troy (Rohan Tangri, jr., Michael Lin sr., Miles MacDonald, jr., Chris Charters, jr.); Rochester Adams (Cameron Clark, jr., Jason Liu, sr., Brad Hassberger, jr., Jeffrey Cheng, jr.); Auburn Hills Avondale (Brad Larsen, sr., Thomas Nowinski, soph., Tim Bajorek, jr., Kevin Yang, soph.).

200 Freestyle: Jarred Butler, Oxford soph.; Jon Vreede, Rochester Stoney Creek sr.; Scott Shermetaro, Rochester Stoney Creek sr.; Chris Marten, Rochester Stoney Creek jr.; Daniel Pechiniuk, Lake Orion soph.; Kyle Inch, Clarkston jr.; Zachary Zabideau, Clarkston jr.; Michael Culver, Clarkston sr.; Austin Kilpatrick, Rochester jr.; Brien Geng, Rochester Adams sr.

200 IM: Steven Nelson, Clarkston jr.; Brad Hassberger, Rochester Adams jr.; D.J. Seeds, Lake Orion jr.; Thomas Nowinski, Auburn Hills  Avondale soph.; Mike Reynolds, Troy Athens soph.; Brad Matola, Lake Orion sr.; Issac Young, Clarkston soph.; Michael Lin, Troy sr.; Craig Matola,  Lake Orion jr.;  Jason Liu, Rochester Adams sr. ; Kyle Walsh, Rochester Stoney Creek soph.

50 Freestyle: Jimmy Walker, Oxford sr.; Kevin Yang, Auburn Hills Avondale soph.; Patrick Conners, Rochester Stoney Creek sr.; Eric Misteravich, Clarkston soph.; Kramer Kamp, Clarkston sr.

Diving: Jake Clark, Oxford sr. ; Ray Renaud, Rochester jr.; Brad Horvath, Lake Orion jr.; Priyan Kailainathan,Troy jr.;  Bobby Mrozinski, Rochester Adams jr.; Corey Smith, Troy Athens; Dan Bucksbaum, Rochester Stoney Creek fr.; Corey Smith, Troy Athens soph.

100 Butterfly: Brad Larsen, Auburn Hills Avondale sr.; Brad Hassberger, jr.;  Jay Singh, Rochester sr.; Jimmy Walker, Oxford sr.; Tim Bajorek, Auburn Hills Avondale jr.; Chris Panone, Rochester Stoney Creek fr.; Will Cavender, Lake Orion jr.; Patrick Bemis, Clarkston jr.; Josh Greib, Lake Orion soph.

100 Freestyle: Kevin Yang, Auburn Hills Avondale soph.; Blake Hibdon, Oxford fr.; Tanner Marten, Rochester Stoney Creek sr.; Chris Charters, Troy jr.; Drew Fritsch, Lake Orion sr.; Daniel Pechiniuk, Lake Orion soph.; Brien Feng, Rochester Adams sr.

500 Freestyle: Jarred Butler, Oxford soph.; Kyle Inch, Clarkston jr.; Austin Kilpatrick, Rochester jr.;  Jon Vreede, Rochester Stoney Creek sr.; Will Cavender, Lake Orion jr.

200 Freestyle Relay: Clarkston (Eric Misteravich, soph., Kyle Inch, jr., Patrick Bemis, jr., Kramer Kamp, sr.); Rochester Adams (Jeffrey Cheng, jr., Jason Liu, sr., Brian Feng, sr., Brad Hassberger, jr.).

100 Backstroke: Cameron Clark, Rochester Adams jr.; Brad Larsen, Auburn Hills Avondale sr.; Alex Yu, Rochester Stoney Creek jr.; Neil Damani, Auburn Hills Avondale jr.; D.J. Seeds, Lake Orion jr.; Alex Palmer, Lake Orion jr.; Landon Halloway, Clarkston soph.; Jason Liu, Rochester Adams sr.

100 Breaststroke: Brad Matola, Lake Orion sr.; Thomas Nowinski, Auburn Hills Avondale soph.; Michael Lin, Troy jr.; Craig Matola, Lake Orion jr.; Albert Lee, Rochester sr.; Colin Berta, Rochester soph.; Patrick Conners, Rochester Stoney Creek jr.; Issac Young, Clarkston  soph.; Danny O’Donnovan, Troy soph.; Frank Tan, Troy soph.

400 Free Relay: Troy (Miles McDonald, jr., Chris Charters, jr., Jonathon Engle, sr., Rohan Tangri, jr.);

Rochester Stoney Creek (Jon Vreede, sr., Alex Yu, jr., Eric Heinrich, soph., Kyle Walsh, soph.); Oxford (Jimmy Walker, sr., Blake Hibdon, fr., Joey Tasch, jr., Jarred Butler, soph.); Rochester Adams (Jeffrey Cheng, jr., Brian Feng, sr., Thomas Steiner, jr., Jason Liu, sr.).

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Tags: all-area boys swimming & diving, boys swimming, boys swimming & diving, featured

Category: All Area Teams, Auburn Hills Avondale, Clarkston, High School, High School (M-Z), Lake Orion, Oxford, Prep Wraps, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Rochester Stoney Creek, Troy, Troy Athens