By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
OTSEGO—During the regular season, the Plainwell boys swim & dive team used its superior depth to rack up a perfect 7-0 record in the Southwest and Central Michigan Swim Conference.
That depth was on full display at the conference meet on Friday, Feb. 28, and Saturday, March 1.
Because despite winning just two events—both by Sam Harper—the Trojans rolled to the meet win with 480 points, outdistancing runner-up Otsego (416) by 64 points.
Marshall was third with 384 points, followed by Allegan in fourth with 321 points. South Haven (228), Sturgis (188), Harper Creek (185) and Hastings (78) were fifth-through-eighth, respectively.
For Plainwell coach Andrea Murphy and her team, the conference title was the culmination of a lot of hard work and determination.
“We have been trying to get a conference championship for the boys team for forever,” she said. “It seems like we have been runner-up forever.”
That included finishing 12.5 points behind Otsego for the championship last year.
“That fueled the team this year,” Murphy said of last year’s results.
Harper was the standout for Plainwell, winning the 200-yard freestyle (1:44.7) and the 500 free with a meet-record time of 4:41.2.
He was also part of Plainwell’s runner-up finishes in both the 200 free relay (1:32.96 along with Ben Sparks, Grady Nugent and Austin Susens) and the 400 free relay (3:28.41 along with Alex Steele, Susens and Davis Nooney).
Others standouts for Plainwell included Aidan Ranger (second at 361.5) and Phil Mathis (third at 315.65) in diving as well as Susens (third at 5:23.86) and Henry Cox (fourth at 5:39.51) in the 500.
“It honestly was a whole team effort,” Murphy said. “We made some changes to our lineup and took some risks, like moving Henry Cox from the fly to the 200 IM, but that allowed Joseph Hoffman to step up in the 100 fly, which he did. We also split our relays to make it so we could get three in the top eight for all the relays and that’s what we did.
“The boys just worked really hard and 16 of our 17 kids had their best times or diving scores of the season.”
Host Otsego, meanwhile, won six of the 12 events. Liam Smith led the way with individual wins in the 200 IM (1:52.44) and the 100 breaststroke (1:00.31). He was also part of the winning 200 medley relay (1:43.1 along with Liam Raseman, Willsun Fuller and Blake Guerrant) and the 400 free relay (3:20.71 along with Guerrant, Carson Bydash and Fuller).
But that wasn’t quite enough to overcome Plainwell’s depth.
“The place wasn’t what we wanted, but when I walked to my car at the end of the meet, I told myself that the boys did the absolute best that they could,” Otsego coach Darryl Belton said. “And really, that is all that I could ask for.
“I hate losing to Plainwell, but hats off to them. They are the better and deeper team. But I would not trade any one of my guys away. They busted tail this weekend and left it all out there. I am very proud of this group.”
Other event wins for Otsego came from Fuller in the 100 butterfly (53.44) and Caleb Wesseldyk in diving (388.7).
Smith, Fuller and Wesseldyk are the Bulldogs’ captains.
“We had some spectacular performances,” Belton said. “Obviously our conference champs were terrific. But Liam Smith, Willsun Fuller and Caleb Wesseldyk did so much more than win event—they were true leaders.”
Other performances that stood out to Belton included Guerrant in the 50 free (second at 23.03), Danny Truong in the 500 free (16th at 7:05.8), Tyler Campbell (10th in the 100 breaststroke at 1:15.25 and 11th in the 100 fly at 1:03.51), Jacopo Legisa (11th in the 100 breaststroke at 1:17.55) and Collin Crites in diving (fourth at 301.2)
“Blake getting his 50 cut and Danny—all four feet of him—placing in the top 16 was great,” Belton said. “It doesn’t get much better than that. Tyler Campbell was huge for us—he PR’d in everything he did; Jacopa was pretty special in the breast; and Collin Crites had to overcome the aftereffects of the flu and he finished with a PR in diving.”
Allegan, meanwhile, set a pool record with its winning performance in the 200 free relay. The team of Sam Kelley, Ezra Smith, Cadel Conrad and Oliver Burnett finished at 1:31.74.
Burnett also had standout efforts in the 100 free (first at 49.07) and the 200 free (second at 1:52.74).
“I couldn’t be prouder of the way our boys swam,” Allegan coach Carol Gephart said. “They showed incredible heart, courage and determination. This team is so young, and the future is very exciting.
“One of the most impressive moments was how they responded to adversity. After a tough disqualification in the medley relay during prelims, many teams would have folded. Instead, they pushed forward and delivered some of their best swims of the season. That resilience speaks volumes about their character.”
