By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
wprice@mihomepaper.com
OXFORD — Clarkston Girls Swim and Dive posted their first two victories of the season during a tri-meet at Oxford High School last Thursday.
The Wolves defeated the Wildcats, 96-90; and Notre Dame Prep, 104-80.
“We came together as a team,” said Melissa Hesse, head coach. “A lot of hugs, a lot of support, a lot of the girls looking over to me before they raced, looking at me after they looked at the board and saw how fast they went. It was amazing. It didn’t matter if we won or not, but then we found out we won both meets. We needed this. We needed to come together more as a team than winning. It was great.”
Scoring points for the Wolves in the individual events were: in the 50-yard freestyle, Sophia Love in first place in the time of 27.04; Ella Johnson, third, 27.88; Avery Gralewski, fourth, 28.43; 100-yard butterfly, Johnson, first, 1:09.08; Bella Popiolek, third, 1:17.38; Caitlin McGivern, fourth, 1:18.49; 100-yard backstroke, Ella Kurmaniak, fourth, 1:13.88; 100-yard breaststroke, Tyler Craig, fourth, 1:23.28; 100-yard freestyle, Love, first, 1:00.58; Kurmaniak, fourth, 1:04.47; 200-yard freestyle, Gralewski, fourth, 2:20; Popiolek, fifth, 2:23.63
200-yard IM, Bayla Zarzycki, third, 2:41.23; Marion Walters, fifth, 2:52.33; and 500-yard freestyle, Craig, third, 6:16.72.
“Sophia got her meet cut for Oakland County meet, she got two best times,” Hesse said. “A huge majority of the girls got a best time.
For relays, the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Gralewski, Walters, Love and Johnson finished in first place in the time of 1:53.60; and the team of Guzal, Popiolek, McGivern and Allie George, third, 2:02.17. The 200-yard medley relay team of Kurmaniak, Craig, Johnson and Walters finished in second place in the time of 2:08.74. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Love, Gralewski, Kurmaniak and Craig finished in third place, 4:18.98.

For 1-meter diving, Sarah Ostheimer finished in second place with 152.25 points in 11 dives; Julia Whitecar, fourth, 127.15; and Aubree Zeiman, sixth, 113.45.
“The divers did really well,” said Hesse. “They had to compete against the girl who is probably best in the state, so they probably went in a little nervous. They pulled through and they did awesome. Sarah is continuing to do amazing. All the divers are improving. I used to be a diver, too, so I am watching them going wow look how much they have improved. They used to be doing a tuck and now they are doing it straight or they are changing the positions and learning a lot.”
The Wolves opened the season against Rochester with a 128-58 loss, Sept. 5.
“We knew going into the meet that Rochester has an amazing team and would be a tough first competition,” said Hesse. “The girls were encouraged to treat the meet as more of a time trial to see where we stand after not having the start we had planned and not to take the results too harshly but rather just enjoy the time with their team and encourage one another.”
Hesse added the team had a rough start to the fall season with unexpected pool issues.
“Luckily our friends at Oxford allowed us to use their pool, however the change in practice schedule made it difficult for a majority of the girls to make it to practice on a consistent basis and for some, not at all.” she said, adding the Wolves are on track now as the pool has been fixed since they competed against Rochester.
The Wolves’ second meet in the season ended in a loss to Troy, 133-53, on Sept. 19.
“The girls are feeling they can do this. Having the motivation that the practices are working,” said Hesse. “They are working harder than they have and it’s paying off. You put in the work – you are going to achieve great things.”
The Wolves host Brandon on Tuesday, Oct. 1. They head to the Oakland County Championship, Oct. 4-5 at Lake Orion High School.
“We tell the girls not to worry about the dual meets, the dual meets show us what we need to work on,” Hesse said. “What we did right, what we didn’t do right and how to improve so we get to the league meet then we are ready. I tell them don’t be hard on yourself, this is just a practice meet for the league meet.
“I want us to win but that is not our goal this year. Our goal is to have the girls have fun with the sport and find a passion. Now we know we can do this. Beating Oxford and Notre Dame was good to show us we can do this. I am excited.”

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