University of Detroit Jesuit claims first crown; it’s three in a row for Cranbrook
ROCHESTER HILLS — University of Detroit Jesuit’s state swimming title was more than just a chance to hoist the big mitten-shaped trophy: it was the team’s first state championship in school history, and it came on the heels of runner-up finishes in 2023 and 2024.
Competing at the MHSAA Division 2 finals at Oakland University on March 14-15 — one week after winning the Catholic League title — the top-ranked Cubs blitzed the field by winning four of the 12 races and racking up 305 points. Byron Center was runner-up at 256.5, followed by Birmingham Seaholm (207) and Farmington (149).
“From the work that we’ve put in, it was great finally being able to reach that milestone,” senior Evan Tack said. “We had great swims from people in every grade, and that’s something that was definitely a strong suit. We had a lot of kids, the freshmen that came in, score really high. They gave us the opportunity to put together three good relays.”
Tack, a Boston College commit, hit automatic All-American time standards in each of his four races. He set a Division 2 state record in winning the individual medley (1:46.28). He was runner-up in the butterfly (48.27), and led off the Cubs’ runner-up 200 medley relay (1:32.17) and state-champion 400 free relay (3:03.68, another Division 2 state record).
“This year, especially in D2, it was very fast,” he said. “No doubt there was a lot of fast swimming. Some of my (off-season) club teammates swim for other schools, and it was good to have friendly competition.”
Tack wasn’t the Cubs’ only state champ: classmate Patrick MacKillop won the breaststroke with another automatic All-American cut (54.88), while sophomore Charlie McCuiston took gold in the 100 freestyle (45.45) to go with his runner-up finish in the 200 free (1:38.31).
Tack, Jack McCuiston, Matt Garza and Charlie McCuiston were on the winning 400 free relay, while Tack, MacKillop, Garza and Brady Hendzell made up the 200 medley relay. U of D also placed second in the 200 free relay (1:25.91), made up of Hendzell, MacKillop and the McCuiston brothers.
Despite the bevy of stars that earned big finishes at Oakland, head coach Drew Edson said U of D’s first title was a long time in the making.
“We have really been building this thing six or seven years, brick by brick, laying the foundation of the culture we want to build,” he said. “Getting as close as we have the last couple years is a testament to them — they‘ve worked hard, trusted the process, they’re buying in to what I say, and they follow it and add new pieces every year.”
In high school, Edson swam for his stepdad, Mike Venos, on a successful Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice program, and he wanted to bring over some of those same tenets after taking the job at U of D.
“When I started I had a different vision, to make it feel like a family,” he said. “I wanted it to be somewhere you wanted to be every single day: ‘I want to be there, not just because it makes me a better swimmer, but this is my family.’ That’s where the culture started and it’s grown from there. The fast swimming came in after that.”
Edson said the team wasn’t necessarily bad at that time, but it’s changed for the better over the long haul.
“We didn’t have those state swimmers at first. We weren’t in that position,” he said. “We told the guys, ‘We need to make you into good people, build up your work ethic. … Now let’s do the fast swimming,’ and it was really cool to work on that progression.”
“It’s not just us,” Tack said. “It’s knowing we made the people before us proud, and knowing the people after us will see what we’ve accomplished and work just as hard.”
Cranbrook takes third straight title
Although Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook won the Division 3 state championship for the third year in a row, junior A.J. Farner said it wasn’t exactly business as usual for the Cranes this winter.
“Last year we had a great graduating class, a solid group of guys who are all competing at the next level,” Farner said. “With this year’s team we struggled at first, but everyone stepped up. There was a big swing when it came to the attitude and the training, and the upperclassmen did a great job of getting everyone ready.”
While coach Paul Ellis agreed with Farner’s assessment, he wasn’t about to sugar-coat it.
“If you saw the results from our first meet against (Birmingham) Seaholm, we were not good,” Ellis said. “You can’t just show up and expect to win. After they saw how far behind we were compared to the last couple of years, something had to give. They needed to be great teammates to each other and be accountable to each other. There was a lot of butt-kicking involved. Once that ball got rolling, we picked it up pretty quickly.”
One couldn’t have guessed the Cranes needed to overcome any struggles simply by looking at the results from Eastern Michigan University. Cranbrook dominated with 357 points, ahead of Holland Christian (282.5), East Grand Rapids (264) and Grand Rapids Christian (191), netting first-place finishes in five of the 12 events.
Farner played a role in four of them. He won the 200 freestyle (1:40.15) and the backstroke (49.54), and swam on Cranbrook’s winning medley relay (1:33.78) and 400 freestyle relay (3:07.95).
One also couldn’t have guessed Farner had personal issues, as he struggled with a bout of mononucleosis for the second half of the season.
“It was a unique experience for me,” he said. “When I got to states I wasn’t sure of what I was capable of. My coaches and teammates did a really good job of guiding me along and helping me accomplish what I wanted to do.”
“A.J. has a genetic gifts and he is a very talented swimmer,” Ellis said. “He actually did very little swimming since January. His success comes from all the work he does outside of the season. We had to adjust training for him, but falling back on the work he put in, he was successful in the situation he was in.”
Farner, who had personal-best times in his individual races, was even more proud that his team was able to put things together.
“It was a major sense of accomplishment, but a sense of gratitude too,” he said. “I was close with the seniors, and it really felt good to send them off with a win. The underclassmen got a new wave of appreciation for what it takes to be at that championship level.”
Joseph Wiater won the breaststroke (56.57), and swam on the medley relay with Ethan Xu, Calvin Meeker and Farner. Sean Lu, Ryan Van Dyke, Xu and Farner were on the 400 free relay. Xu had a pair of runner-up finishes in the individual medley (1:50.88) and the butterfly (49.98). Meeker finished behind Xu in the butterfly for third place. (51.53)
Catholic Central has top-five team placing
Although Detroit Catholic Central finished one point shy of making it to the podium and taking home a trophy, there were still several highlights for the Shamrocks amidst Division 1 competition at the Holland Aquatic Center.
Sophomore Camren Turowski won the two sprint events, the 50 and 100 freestyles, in automatic All-American times of 20.41 and 46.64 seconds, respectively.
Turowski also anchored two Catholic Central relays that placed highly. He joined Adyn Stoddard, Jack Szuba and Ryan Brown to place second in the 200 freestyle relay (1:25.49), while Stoddard, Szuba, Roshi Turner and Turowski were fourth in the 400 free relay (3:08.61).
Teamwise, the Shamrocks ranked fifth with 175 points. Saline (291.5) beat out four-time defending champion Ann Arbor Pioneer (263) for the top spot.
