Stoney Creek seniors hope to go out with best state finish
FOR MORE SWIMMING COVERAGE, visit http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Swimming&x=5&y=14
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ROCHESTER HILLS — Rochester Stoney Creek has had plenty of time to get its feet wet — literally. Its girls swimming and & diving program is now a decade old and the Cougars hope to have their best-ever state-meet finish this weekend at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 state finals.
With a talented senior class of five plus talent up and down the lineup, Stoney Creek captured the recent OAA White Division championship at Oxford High School.
The Cougars scored an impressive 403 points, beating runner-up West Bloomfield (328.5) by over 70 points. Coupled with a 6-0-0 dual meet record in the league, Stoney Creek was the outright league champion, just the second league crown in the program’s 10-year history.
Stoney Creek opened in 2002-03 school year.
“This is one of our best teams. We have a very talented senior class that has led us this season,” offered Stoney Creek coach Tracie Naylis, a former all-state swimmer in the 1990s at Rochester Adams. “We have some good kids coming up, but our strength is definitely our senior class. They have all had excellent careers at Stoney Creek and we were able to win our league.”
Stoney Creek is now turning its attention to the state finals. The Cougars will head to Eastern Michigan University for the Division 1 finals with high hopes, as they are honorable mention in the rankings and on course for a top-15 finish with an outside shot at the top-10.
“That’s if we swim really well. Division 1 is going to be awfully tough this year, better than last year,” reminded Naylis.
Part of the reason is that three of the top six teams at last year’s Division 2 state meet have bumped up to Division 1 enrollment-wise, making the field much stronger. Farmington Hills Mercy, Ann Arbor Skyline and Hudsonville have all made the jump to D-1 and all are ranked in the state.
Stoney Creek has scored points at the state finals in seven of its first nine seasons. The Cougars have three top-15 showing under their belt, including 15th in 2002, 14th in 2009 and 13th in 2008. This year’s team might be able to top that.
“We’ve had some good teams, but we haven’t been great,” said Naylis. “We’re hoping we can have some really good (performances) at the state meet and finish in the top 15. That’s a realistic goal.”
Rochester Stoney Creek senior Hannah Knapp helped the Cougars win the OAA White Division title this season and is seeded in the top-20 in both the 50 free and 100 free events for the Division 1 state finals. File Photo
Seniors Rachel Watton, Hannah Knapp, Ariel Niederhauser, Katherine Scott and Carson Burt have been the anchor of this team all season and been a part of the program all four years. Juniors Sydney Schurig, Caity Wysocki, Becky Freed and Ria Patel, sophomores Kylie Brandon, Paige Rinke, Katie Marciniak, Sabrina Caporuscio and Allison Belnager, and freshmen Alisa Novelli, Kate Reynolds and Avery Hicks were also contributors to the league title run on a roster of 43.
Watton and Knapp will compete at the state meet in four events each, while Schurig, Niederhauser, Novelli and Burt two events each and Scott one event for the Cougars.
“It’s hard to project how they will do until you see the seeds and get a better understanding where we are ranked,” said Naylis. “But the goal is just to make it to Saturday. You need to (advance) out of the prelims. That’s the goal. You can’t score if you don’t make it back.”
RECENT STATE MEET FINISHES
Below are the girls swimming and diving state finals team finishes for Rochester Stoney Creek since it opened its doors in 2002.
ROCHESTER STONEY CREEK
2010: 23rd (23 pts.) D-1
2009: 14th (41 pts.) D-2
2008: 13th (54 pts.) D-2
2007: 30th (5 pts.) D-2
2006: 45th (1 pt.) D-1
2003: 44th (3 pts.) D-2
2002: 15th (32 pts.) D-2
Girls Swimming State Rankings
(By the coaches association)
Division 1 — 1. Farmington Hills Mercy; Saline; 3. Hudsonville; 4. Holland West Ottawa; 5. Rockford; 6. Birmingham Marian; 7. (tie) Ann Arbor Huron, South Lyon Unified; 9. Ann Arbor Skyline; 10. (tie) Clarkston, Zeeland Unified.
Honorable Mention — Novi, Northville, Lake Orion, Rochester Stoney Creek, Saginaw Heritage, Grandville, Jackson, Temperance Bedford, Livonia Stevenson, Plymouth, Plymouth Salem.
Division 2 — 1. Holland; 2. Birmingham Seaholm; 3. Birmingham Groves; 4. Grosse Pointe South; 5. Farmington Harrison; 6. Midland Dow; 7. Rochester Adams; 8. Portage Central; 9. Milan; 10. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central.
Honorable Mention — Jenison, Dexter, Okemos, Fenton, Walled Lake Northern, Grand Rapids Northview, Bay City Western, Battle Creek Lakeview.
Division 3 — 1. East Grand Rapids; 2. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood; 3. Bloomfield Hills Lahser; 4. Hamilton; 5. Plainwell; 6. Holland Christian; 7. Alma; 8. Haslett; 9. Grand Rapids Christian; 10. (tie) Adrian, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
Honorable Mention — Muskegon Catholic Central, Birmingham Detroit Country Day, Grosse Ile, Tecumseh, Dundee, Spring Lake, Trenton, Battle Creek .Harper Creek, Bay City John Glenn.
FOR MORE SWIMMING COVERAGE, visit http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Swimming&x=5&y=14
OAA RED DIVISION STATS: http://northoaklandsports.com/2011/11/15/girls-swimming-%E2%80%94-oaa-red-division-results/
OAA WHITE DIVISION STATS: http://northoaklandsports.com/2011/11/09/8245/
OAA BLUE DIVISION STATS: http://northoaklandsports.com/2011/11/15/girls-swimming-%E2%80%94-oaa-blue-division-results/
PHOTO GALLERY: http://northoaklandsports.com/2011/10/05/photo-gallery-2011-oakland-county-girls-swimming-and-diving-championships/
COUNTY MEET STATS: http://northoaklandsports.com/2011/10/02/girls-swimming-oakland-county-girls-swimming-and-diving-championships/
To submit information to www.northoaklandsports.com, e-mail dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com. To advertise, e-mail advertising@northoaklandsports.com . Follow us on Twitter @LocalSportsFans and more than a dozen other social media networks.
Category: Featured Articles, High School, High School (M-Z), Prep Wraps, Rochester Stoney Creek
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
FALL SPORTS
FOOTBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Football&x=12&y=12
SOCCER: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=soccer&x=0&y=0
CROSS COUNTRY: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Cross+country&x=11&y=10
GOLF: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Golf&x=9&y=14
TENNIS: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Tennis&x=13&y=4
VOLLEYBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Volleyball&x=0&y=9
SWIMMING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Swimming&x=11&y=14
WINTER SPORTS
BASKETBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Basketball&x=13&y=12
WRESTLING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=wrestling&x=10&y=9
SKIING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Skiing&x=5&y=14
GYMNASTICS: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Gymnastics&x=10&y=12
HOCKEY: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Hockey&x=11&y=14
SWIMMING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Swimming&x=11&y=14
BOWLING: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Bowling&x=4&y=13
SPRING SPORTS
BASEBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Baseball&x=16&y=13
SOFTBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Softball&x=8&y=11
TRACK AND FIELD: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=track&x=14&y=11
LACROSSE: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=lacrosse&x=12&y=9
TENNIS: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Tennis&x=13&y=4
GOLF: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Golf&x=9&y=14
SOCCER: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=soccer&x=0&y=0