2011 ALL-AREA GIRLS SWIMMING AND DIVING: State champions, all-staters ride wave to become region’s best

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

Exceptional.

If there was one word that explains the talent level of girls swimming and diving in this area of the state, exceptional would be it.

At this year’s three state meets, dozens of competitors from the www.northoaklandsports.com coverage area qualified with several gaining top-16 state medals. Additionally, there were two first-time state champions from the area this season.

All of these talented athletes can be found somewhere on the 2011 All-North Oakland Area Girls Swimming and Diving Team.

In order to spread the honors around, individuals were limited to one open event on the first team and were removed from the list in other events if they received a first-team nod in one of the eight open events.

Including relays, there were 17 competitors to earn All-Area First Team honors this season. Dozens of others received second team or honorable mention status thanks to fine performances at the state-meet, Oakland county-meet or league meets throughout the season.

Below are the profiles for all of the All-Area First Team selections:

200 MEDLEY RELAY: HANNA HUNSTAD-KRISTEN FINNEY, BIANCA TIBERIO-KRYSTAL KARAS, Rochester Adams: This unit finished the season in fifth place at the Division 2 state finals, clocking 1:47.88 to set a new school record. Made up of juniors Hunstad and Tiberio, Finney, a senior, and Karas, a freshman, this foursome also finished sixth at the county meet and second at the OAA Red Division league meet.

“I knew they were going to be good. They qualified for the state meet in the first meet of the season and kept getting better and better as the season went along,” said coach Tim Hickey. “They set the school record and are up for All-America consideration. Three of the four girls should be back next season, so we hope to be strong in this event again next season.”

200 FREESTYLE: RACHEL WATTON, Rochester Stoney Creek: A versatile senior who helped the Cougars win the OAA White Division title this season, Watton competed at the state finals in four events this season. She was second at the OAA White Division league meet in the 200 free (1:57.76) and followed that up by finishing 22^nd at the Division 1 state meet (1:56.10). In the 500 free, Watton also claimed second at the league meet and was 20^th in the state meet (5:15.02). Additionally, Watton swam on the Cougars’ 200 free relay that was 14^th at state (1:40.40) and the 400 free relay that placed 17^th at state (3:40.10). both of those relays were league champions as well.

200 IM: COURTNEY MCCLEAR, Lake Orion: A junior in her third varsity season, McClear touched 16^th at the Division 1 state finals (2:11.74). She also claimed fourth at the OAA Red division league meet and fifth at the county meet. McClear also qualified for the state finals in the 100 breaststroke, placing 38^th, and swam on the 200 free relay and 400 free relays that placed in the top-16 at the state finals.

50 FREESTYLE: HANNAH KNAPP, Rochester Stoney Creek: One of seven seniors for the OAA White Division champion Cougars, Knapp finished 14^th at the Division 1 state meet (24.51) to set the school record in the 50 free. In the 100 free, Knapp was 11^th at the state finals (53.16) and competed on Stoney Creek’s 200 free relay and 400 free relay at the state meet. At the league meet, where the Cougars scored 403 points, Knapp was second in the 100 free (53.48), third in the 200 free (1:57.68), first in the 200 free relay and first in the 400 free relay.

DIVING: LAUREN REEDY, Rochester: Reedy, who recently signed with Missouri, became the school’s first female diving state champion when she broke her own school record by collecting 458 points at the Division 1 state finals. She rallied back after placing third in the prelims. Reedy was undefeated this season and also won the county meet (419.95), OAA White Division league meet (422.45) and regional. The three-time state qualifier was 36^th at state as a sophomore and seventh last season.

“Lauren’s a hard-working girl who set her goals high this season and she was able to accomplish those goals of being a state champion,” said coach Paul Karas.

100 BUTTERFLY: HALEY KORNBURGER, Oxford: Just a sophomore, Kornburger already owns school record in 11 of 12 events.  At the Division 2 state finals last season, she became the school’s state-meet point scorer and followed that up this season by placing in two events. She was fifth in the 200 IM (24.26) and third in the 100 butterfly (57.14) at the state meet. At the county meet, she claimed third in the 200 IM and was fourth in the 100 free. At the OAA White Division league meet, Kornburger was second in the 200 IM and first in the 100 butterfly.

“She has a great sophomore season and I think she was a little disappointed in her finishes at the state meet. She believes she can go faster,” said coach Jackie Rank. “She has two more years to go, so I know she has higher goals.”

100 FREESTYLE: ANNIE JONGEKRIJG, Lake Orion: Headed for Ohio State, Jongekrijg is a fairy-tale sensation, beginning her swimming career as a sophomore and becoming of the state’s best by the time she finished her senior season.  At the D-1 state meet, the senior finished second in the 50 free (23.40) and became the school’s first female state champion by winning the 100 free (50.32). She also swam on the 200 free relay (11^th at state) 400 free relay (ninth at state). At the league meet, Jongekrijg won the 50 free (23.77), 100 free (51.53, new OAA record and placed second on the Dragons; runner-up 200 free relay and second on the 400 free relay. Jongekrijg was also second in the 50 free and first in the 100 free at the Oakland County meet.

500 FREESTYLE: MEGAN STELPFLUG, Clarkston: Only a freshman, Stelpflug placed in four events at both the OAA Red Division and Oakland County meet and in three events at the Division 1 state finals. In the 200 free, she was third at the county meet, second at the OAA Division league meet and 19^th at the D-1 state finals. In the 500 free, her top event, she emerged as both the league and county champion and was second in the state (5:01.02). Her 5:02.09 clocking at the league meet in the 500 free set a league record. She also holds the school records in both the 200 and 500 freestyles.

“Megan is the hardest working athlete on this team, said coach Kenwyn Chock. “She is a pleasure to coach and a great teammate. She puts her best effort into everything she does. Her only loss this year in the 500 Free was her 2nd place finish at the D1 State meet. She is leaving her mark in Oakland County by setting pool records at many of the schools. Megan is also a straight A student.”

200 FREE RELAY: DANIELLE KUDLA-COURTNEY MCCLEAR-BETHANY ABRAMCZYK-ANNIE JONGEKRIJG, Lake Orion: This unit stepped up at the big meets the whole season, swimming second at the depth-laden OAA Red Division meet, fifth at the county and 11^th at the Division 1 state meet. They accomplished this feet with two freshmen in the group, Kudla and Abramczyk, plus a junior, McClear, and Jongekrijg, one of the state’s top seniors.

100 BACKSTROKE: MARIN MCINERNEY, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep: This junior swam in two open events and two relays at the Division 3 state finals. In the 100 backstroke, she was sixth in the county, third at the CHSL meet and third at the state finals (1:00.03). In the 200 free, she was 13^th at the county, fifth at the league meet and fourth at the state meet (1:56.71).

100 BREASTSTROKE: SAMI STELPFLUG, Clarkston: Stelpflug did not suffer a sophomore jinx, instead building on a fine freshman year to become one of the state’s top 10^th-grade prospects. Swimming a variety of events throughout the season, Stelpflug excelled in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. In the breaststroke, Stelpflug was second at both the OAA-Red and county meet and third at the Division 1 state meet in 1:04.71, which lowered her school record. In the 200 IM, Stelpflug was the county and league champ while she finished second at the state finals (2:04.22). Stelpflug reached the state-meet time in eight open events this season and holds the Clarkston school or pool record in a total of four events. She also set pool records at Farmington, Lake Orion and Birmingham Seaholm this season.

“Sami is our team leader in and out of the pool,” said Chock. “She inspires the rest of the team to do their best. She is a versatile swimmer with Division 1 state cuts in every event. Sami is leaving her mark in Oakland County by setting pool records at many of the pools. Sami is also a Straight-A student.”

400 FREE RELAY: KATHRYN CULVER-AMBER HALLMAN,-MEGAN STELPFLUG-SAMI STELPFLUG, Clarkston: This unit made up of three sophomores, plus freshman Megan Stelpflug, had a fine season in this event, earning All-America consideration. They set the OAA Red Division league meet record (3:34.80) and also won the county meet (3:34.64). At the D-1 state finals, they finished sixth (3:32.18), the highest finish for any Wolves relay in the program’s 13-year history.

“Sydney Thon and Taylor Tekiele were also used during the year,” said Chock. “It’s nice to finally have some depth at freestyle. This is the first relay team from Clarkston to achieve All-American consideration times.”

COACH OF THE YEAR

TIM HICKEY, Rochester Adams: In his 15^th season as head coach of the Highlanders’ girls swimming and diving program, Hickey led a young team to one of its best finishes in school history. With only two seniors regularly scoring points, Adams finished 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the Oakland Activities Association Red Division, where it finished fourth overall. The Highlanders were 12^th at the Oakland County Championships (88.5 points) and finished fourth at the OAA Red Division league meet (265 points) behind three other state-ranked teams (Birmingham Seaholm, Birmingham Groves and Farmington Harrison). At the Division 2 state finals, Adams claimed eighth with 103 points, the third highest finish under Hickey and fifth-best finish all-time in school history.

“I was very pleased with his team overall. We had 12 state qualifiers than we’ve ever had before, with 12 girls at the state meet,” said Hickey. “We had good balance with girls from each grade that were contributors. We should return almost everybody next year, so we’re hoping we can come back next year and have another top-10 team (at the state meet).”

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(To report varsity results, e-mail results@northoaklandsports.com or dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com )

2011 ALL-NORTH OAKLAND AREA

GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING TEAM 

FIRST TEAM

200 Medley Relay    Hanna Hunstad                   Rochester Adams
200 Medley Relay    Kristen Finney                  Rochester Adams
200 Medley Relay    Bianca Tiberio                  Rochester Adams
200 Medley Relay    Krystal Karas                   Rochester Adams
200 Freestyle       Rachel Watton                   Rochester Stoney Creek
200 IM              Courtney McClear                Lake Orion
50 Freestyle        Hannah Knapp                    Rochester Stoney Creek
Diving              Lauren Reedy                    Rochester
100 Butterfly       Haley Kornburger                Oxford
100 Freestyle       Annie Jongekrijg                Lake Orion
500 Freestyle       Megan Stelpflug                 Clarkston
200 Free Relay      Danielle Kudla                  Lake Orion
200 Free Relay      Courtney McClear                Lake Orion
200 Free Relay      Bethany Abramczyk               Lake Orion
200 Free Relay      Annie Jongekrijg                Lake Orion
100 Backstroke      Marin McInerney                 Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
100 Breaststroke    Sami Stelpflug                  Clarkston
400 Free Relay      Kathryn Culver                  Clarkston
400 Free Relay      Amber Hallman                   Clarkston
400 Free Relay      Megan Stelpflug                 Clarkston
400 Free Relay      Sami Stelpflug                  Clarkston

COACH OF THE YEAR

Tim Hickey          Rochester Adams                 15th Season

SECOND TEAM

200 Medley Relay: Clarkston (Kathryn Culver, soph.; Natalie Vela, soph.; Sami

Stelpflug, soph.; Megan Stelpflug, fr.); 200 Freestyle: Bethany Abramczyk,

Lake Orion fr.; 200 IM: Kristen Finney, Rochester Adams sr.; 50 Freestyle:

Kathryn Culver, Clarkston soph.; Diving: Keegan McCaffrey, Rochester Adams

jr.; 100 Butterfly: Bianca Tiberio, Rochester Adams jr.; 100 Freestyle:

Krystal Karas, Rochester Adams fr.; 500 Freestyle: Gabrielle Thivierge,

Rochester Adams jr.; 200 Free Relay: Rochester Adams (Krystal Karas, fr.;

Kristen Finney, sr.; Charlene Coutteau, sr.; Bianca Tiberio, jr.);

100 Backstroke: Hanna Hunstad, Rochester Adams jr.; 100 Breaststroke:

Kristine Barlow, Troy sr.; 400 Free Relay: Lake Orion (Danielle Kudla, fr.;

Bethany Ambramczyk, fr.; Courtney McClear, jr.; Annie Jongekrijg, sr.).

HONORABLE MENTIONS

200 Medley Relay: Rochester Stoney Creek (Ariel Niederhauser, Katherine Scott,

sr., Sydney Schurig, jr., Alissa Novelli, fr.); Troy (Jacqueline Burke, jr.,
Katherine Barlow, sr.; TezzaLanzen, sr., Lauren Dietz, sr.); Pontiac Notre

Dame Prep, Megan Neilheiser, soph., Emily Kaye, sr., Payton Hoff, jr.,

Stephanie Rutila, sr.); 200 Freestyle: Gabrielle Thivierge, Rochester Adams

jr.; Theresa Riviera, Rochester Adams fr.; Bethany Abramczyk, Lake Orion fr.;

Taylor Curtis, Oxford fr.; Hanna Hunstad, jr.; Courtney Kopopitski, Holly, jr.;

Natalie Schmitt, Rochester Adams jr.; Kaleigh Mullen, Pontiac Notre Dame

Prep sr.; Payton Hoff, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, jr.; 200 IM: Laura Frachowski,

Holly soph.; Haley Ludwig, Rochester jr.; Carson Burt, Rochester Stoney

Creek sr.; Hannah Shin, Rochester soph.; Ariel Niederhauser, Rochester

Stoney Creek sr.; Sydney Schurig, Rochester Stoney Creek jr.; Katherine

Scott, Rochester Stoney Creek sr.; Amanda DeLePaz, Oxford sr.; Haley

O’Horo, Auburn Hills Avondale sr.; 50 Free: Danielle Kudla, Lake Orion fr.;

Lauren Dietz, Troy sr.; Lauren Matthews, Auburn Hills Avondale sr.;

Diving: Katie Corcoran, Lake Orion soph.; Brenna O’Brien, Troy sr.;

Taylor Curtis, Troy jr.; 1. Ashley Moskal, Auburn Hills Avondale jr.;

Julia Mastracci, Auburn Hills Avondale jr.; 100 Butterfly: Natalie

Vela, Clarkston soph.; Tessa Lanzen, Troy sr.; Alexa Brown, Troy Athens

sr.; 100 Freestyle: Danielle Kudla, Lake Orion fr.; Krystal Karas,

Rochester Adams fr.; Taylor Curtis, Oxford fr.; Natalie Schmitt,

Rochester Adams jr.; Emily Kaye, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, sr.; Stephanie

Rutila, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep sr.; Kathryn Culver, Clarkston soph.;

Carson Burt, Rochester Stoney Creek sr.; 500 Freestyle: Bethany Abramczyk,

Lake Orion fr.; Theresa Riviera, Rochester Adams fr.; Kaleigh Mullen,

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep fr.; Payton Huff, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep jr.;

Nicole Vince, Rochester soph.; Alisa Novelli, Rochester Stoney Creek

fr.; 200 Free Relay: Rochester Stoney Creek (Hannah Knapp, sr.,

Ariel Niederhauser, sr., Rachel Watton, sr., Carson Burt, sr.);

Troy (Grace LaBelle, soph., Sunny Chiang, fr., China Burke, fr., Lauren

Dietz, sr.); Clarkston (Monica Gorgas, soph., Amber Hallman, soph.,

Taylor Tiekiele, jr., Allison Garland, sr.); Oxford (Taylor Curtis, fr.,

Claire Patrell, sr., Amanda DeLaPaz, sr., Haley Kornburger, soph.);

Holly (Courtney Konopitski, jr., Rachel Malvich, sr., Breanne Thomas, sr.,

Laura Frachowski, soph.); Ortonville Brandon (Brooke Fisher, sr., Melissa

Nolin, fr., Calley May, fr., Elizabeth Kavelish, sr.); Pontiac Notre Dame

Prep (Stephanie Rutila, sr., Emily Kaye, sr., Kaleigh Mullen, sr., Marin

McInerney, jr.); 100 Backstroke: Allison Zweng, Rochester Adams fr.;

Brianda Glanda, Rochester Adams soph.; Kilia Lewerenz, Pontiac Notre Dame

Prep fr., Megan Neiheisel, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep soph.; Stephanie Fierens,

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep sr.; Jenna Cendrowski, Rochester sr.; Alexa Brown,

Troy Athens sr.; 100 Breaststroke: Hannah Buchanan, Rochester Adams soph.;

China Burke, Rochester Adams fr.; Lydia Mattar, Lake Orion fr.; Kristen

Finney, Rochester Adams sr.;Katherine Scott, Rochester Stoney Creek sr.;

Hannah Shin, Rochester fr.;  400 Free Relay: Rochester Stoney Creek

(Rachel Watton, sr., Carson Burt, sr., Sydney Schurig, jr., Hannah

Knapp, sr.); Rochester Adams (Krystal Karas, fr., Hanna Hunstad, jr.,

Natalie Schmitt, jr., Bianca Tiberio, jr.); Oxford (Taylor Curts, fr.,

Claire Patrell, sr., Amanda DeLaPaz, sr., Haley Kornburger, soph.);

Holly (Courtney Konopitski, jr., Rachel Malvich, sr., Jessie Felix, jr.,

Laura Frachowski, soph.); Ortonville Brandon (Elizabeth Kayfish, sr.,

Brooke Fisher, sr., Robyn Neal, soph., Nina Dulek, sr.); Pontiac Notre

Dame Prep (Emily Kaye,sr., Payton Hoff, jr., Kaleigh Mullen, sr., Marin

McInerney, jr.).

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