Fish earn fifth!

After winning four straight D2 titles, Farmington Hills Mercy downs two-time defending champ Saline to win D1 crown

   This championship was quintessential.

   No. 1-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy fought off two-time defending champion Saline to win the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 1 Girls Swimming Championship on Saturday, Nov. 19, at Eastern Michigan University.

   It was the fifth straight state championship for the Marlins after winning the past four Division 2 titles. It was the seventh MHSAA title overall for Mercy. Mercy won the Class A crown in 1998 and won the Open Class title in 1972 as Farmington Our Lady of Mercy. Mercy was runner-up in Division 1 in 2005, 2004, and 2002 and in Class A in 1999.

   The Marlins earned 258 points to earn the 2011 crown. No. 2-ranked Saline was second with 243.5 points. No. 6-ranked Bloomfield Hills Marian was third with 165 points.

   Mercy didn’t win a single individual title on the day, but had numerous Top-16 finishes to earn valuable points.

   The Mercy team of sophomore Elliott Schinella, freshman Maddy Loniewski, sophomore Annie Valentine, and freshman Roxanne Griffore placed third in the 200-yard medley relay. But Saline won the relay to take a 40-32 lead after one event.

  Mercy took the lead (68-55) after the 200-yard freestyle as senior Sato Kakihara (fifth), senior Olivia Samoray (sixth), and freshman Kathleen McGee (ninth) earned points.

   Loniewski placed third and Valentine was 11th in the 200-yard individual medley. Schinella was 10th in the 50-yard freestyle. Saline placed fifth and sixth in the event to put them ahead again 103-97.

  Mercy took back the lead (109-103) after senior Emmy Orrico’s seventh place finish in the diving competition.

   Kakihara and Valentine placed fifth and sixth in the 100-yard butterfly to expand the lead over Saline to 136-118.5.

   Saline had two top-seven finishes in the 100-yard freestyle to go back up 145.5-137. Griffore earned Mercy’s only point in the event, finishing 16th.

   McGee finished fourth and Samoray fifth in the 500-yard freestyle to put Mercy back on top for good.

  The Mercy team of Loniewski, Schinella, Kakihara, and Samoray placed third in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

   Schinella (fourth), sophomore Jordan Ewald (14th), Griffore (15th), and sophomore Christine Edwards (16th) earned points for Mercy in the 100-yard backstroke to build the lead to 219-194.5 after 10 events.

   Loniewski finished ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke.

  The team of Kakihara, McGee, Griffore, and Samoray locked up the victory with a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

  “We didn’t win a race, and then we won the meet” Mercy head coach Shannon Dunworth told the Oakland Press. “And that shows that we’re deep, because we have talented kids and we have hard working kids. No doubt. But they really buy in to what we want to do and they work as a team. No first places but yet we win the whole meet, that’s great.”