Plainwell Reaches New Heights - Nets 3rd Place Finish at State Meet!

The 2011 Plainwell High School Girls Swimming and Diving Team achieved a status no other girl's aquatic team has in the school's storied history by placing 3rd in the Division 3 State Championships at Oakland University with 182 points. The Trojans swam and dove at a very high level all weekend to earn their status as one of the top teams in the state. It was a true team effort as the meet was marked by record breaking performances, best times, and point scoring by many individuals.

Freshman Mallory Comerford had a stellar meet with 2 first place finishes in the freestyle sprint events. Her performance earned her Division 3 Swimmer of the Year and her 100 Freestyle broke a Division 3 State record as well as new school records. She was also a key member of the All-State Freestyle Relay Teams. Mallory's individual races were not even close - an indication of her dominance in her events. Her performance also warranted All-American status.

Senior Lindsay Wiederhold capped a brilliant high school career with a 2nd place finish in the 200 Freestyle and new school record and a 3rd place in the 500 Freestyle. Her last race (a member of the 400 Freestyle Relay) very fittingly broke the school record as well. Her career is one of the most elite in Plainwell Swimming/Diving history - 14 out of a possible 16 All-State performances and 4 new school records. She was a strong leader this year as a captain.

Kim Jones was remarkable in the diving event with a 2nd place performance. Her future is very bright for upcoming Championship meets. Cameron Monroe gave a very heroic performance after hitting the board on her first dive in the finals. She set aside the pain and continued on to pick up key points for the Trojans. Her performance and courage epitomized her stature as a captain and a leader of the team.

Blair Cornell had an outstanding swim in breaking the 100 Breaststroke school record with a 12th place finish. As mentioned before, the 400 Freestyle Relay team also broke the school record with an exciting come from behind swim to secure the 3rd place finish. Members of the relay team were Teresa Thiel, Audrey VanderBoon, Lindsay Wiederhold, and Mallory Comerford. The 200 Freestyle Relay swam to an All-State 6th place finish with Megan VanderBoon, Teresa Thiel, Lindsay Wiederhold, and Mallory Comerford.

Teresa Thiel and Megan VanderBoon made it back to the Consolation Finals while placing 12th and 13th respectively in the 100 Butterfly and the Medley Relay team of Audrey VanderBoon, Blair Cornell, Megan VanderBoon, and Teresa Thiel placed 10th. Rounding out the State Team were Ally Seiler who dropped 2 seconds in the 100 Backstroke in the Preliminaries and freshman Aaryn Jewell.

Coach John Dubois also picked up an honor for Co-Division 3 Coach of the Year. His award helps showcase a great and historic year with a wonderful and talented group of young women! Fantastic Job!

Plainwell Finishes:

200 Medley Relay
(A. VanderBoon, Cornell, M. VanderBoon, Thiel) Prelims - 1:55.22; Finals - 1:55.82 10th

200 Freestyle
Wiederhold Prelims - 1:56.36; Finals - 1:55.71 (New School Record) 2nd

200 IM
Cornell Prelims - 2:22.36 21st

50 Freestyle
Comerford Prelims - :24.25; Finals - :23.62 (New School Record) 1st

Diving
Jones Finals - 429.00 2nd
Monroe Finals - 348.34 11th

100 Butterfly
Thiel Prelims - 1:03.66; Finals - 1:03.72 12th
M. VanderBoon Prelims - 1:03.95; Finals - 1:03.74 13th

100 Freestyle
Comerford Prelims - :52.02; Finals - :50.46 (New School Record) 1st New D3 State Record

500 Freestyle
Wiederhold Prelims - 5:14.23; Finals - 5:09.80 3rd

200 Freestyle Relay
(M. VanderBoon, Thiel, Wiederhold, Comerford) Prelims - 1:42.01; Finals - 1:41.58 6th

100 Backstroke
A. VanderBoon Prelims - 1:04.64 28th
Seiler Prelims - 1:04.89 30th

100 Breastroke
Cornell Prelims - 1:10.24; Finals - 1:09.73 (New School Record) 12th

400 Freestyle Relay
(Thiel, A. VanderBoon, Wiederhold, Comerford) Prelims - 3:42.23; Finals - 3:38.50 (New School Record) 3rd

Conference Championship Celebration

Trojans Rule The Pool In Route To 9th Straight Conference Title

The Plainwell High School Girl's Swimming and Diving Team dominated the Southwestern & Central Michigan Conference Championship Meet on Saturday with an impressive 589 points. The Trojans won 8 of 12 events and had many swimmers and divers in the championship heats. The girls had a very impressive 15 All-Conference performers as a result of their team-inspired victory. Coaches John Dubois, Tara Cornell, and Lynne Seiber took their regular victory plunge into the pool after the 1st place trophy presentation. The Trojans were supported by tremendous fan and parent support as well as an electric environment at the Allegan pool. Plainwell showed its talent and team depth with an inspired effort on both days.

Lindsay Wiederhold and Mallory Comerford continued their winning ways with two individual victories. These two dominated their events and put quite a distance between themselves and the 2nd place competitor with Mallory bettering her two school records. Kim Jones and Cameron Monroe owned the diving event as they have all season long with a variety of high difficulty dives. Their outstanding 1-2 performance was a proud tribute to their late coach, Dr. Frank Newman. Blair Cornell won the Breastroke event as she has all season as well. Megan VanderBoon and Ally Seiler had state cuts in the preliminaries in the 100 Butterfly and 100 Backstroke respectively. The 200 Medley Relay and 400 Free Relay were also victorious and the 200 Free Relay was touched out by 0.11 seconds and took 2nd place. Kelsey Ernst, Aaryn Jewell and Karlynn VanSlambrouck had great swims and also earned All-Confererence status in their individual events. Other great perfomances were turned in by Molly Boylan, Haley Childress, Audrey VanderBoon, Angel Liceaga, Karlee Gauthier, and Teresa Thiel.

The team has 10 representatives for the Division 3 State Meet on November 18th and 19th at Oakland University in Rochester, MI. They will look forward to compete with the best swimmers and divers in the state. Best of luck to the girls and come out and cheer them to a high finish! Go Trojans!

Team Results:
Plainwell 589
Allegan 459
Alma 391
Otsego 257
Kalamazoo Hackett 214
South Haven 186
Albion 165

Plainwell Finishes:

200 Medley Relay
A. VanderBoon, Cornell, Thiel, Comerford 1st 1:55.47
Seiler, Gauthier, M. VanderBoon, Boylan 5th 2:02.01
Liceaga, Hochstedler, Lash, Kelly For Place 2:17.42

200 Freestyle
Wiederhold 1st 1:59.18
Ernst 7th 2:12.15
Vanslambrouck 9th 2:15.30
Childress 13th 2:19.62

200 IM
Cornell 4th 2:26.78
M. VanderBoon 6th 2:28.12
Boylan 9th 2:34.11
Gauthier 12th 2:41.86

50 Freestyle
Comerford 1st :24.25
Thiel 5th :26.71
Jewell 8th :27.04
Kelly 14th :29.38

Diving
Jones 1st 426.0
Monroe 2nd 402.3

100 Butterfly
Thiel 3rd 1:04.35
M. VanderBoon 4th 1:04.78
Ernst 7th 1:12.16
Liceaga 1:17.40

100 Freestyle
Jewell 5th :58.97
A. VanderBoon 6th :59.24
Seiler 8th :59.51

500 Freestyle
Wiederhold 1st 5:20.55
Vanslambrouck 6th 5:58.88
Boylan 7th 6:01.18
Childress 12th 6:12.88

200 Free Relay
M. VanderBoon, Cornell, Thiel, Wiederhold 2nd 1:46.78
Jewell, Childress, Vanslambrouck, Ernst 5th 1:54.46
Mills, Oakes, Kelly, Loftus For Place 2:00.01

100 Backstroke
Comerford 1st :58.22
A. VanderBoon 4th 1:06.05
Seiler 8th 1:07.94
Liceaga 13th 1:17.82

100 Breastroke
Cornell 1st 1:11.06
Gauthier 7th 1:20.84
Hochstedler 12th 1:25.99

400 Free Relay
Jewell, A. VanderBoon, Wiederhold, Comerford 1st 3:46.19
Seiler, Vanslambrouck, Ernst, Boylan 6th 4:05.23
Townsend, Oakes, Grote, Lash 14th 4:37.00

Plainwell Easily Handles Kalamazoo Hackett

The Plainwell Girl's Swim/Dive Team easily defeated Kalamazoo Hackett on Tuesday evening by a score of 124-61. This was the last dual meet of the season as the Trojans prepare for the Championship season. Plainwell will seek its 9th straight Conference Championship at Allegan on November 4 and 5. Winners of various events at the meet were Blair Cornell, Kim Jones, Caitlin Oakes, Karalyn Vanslambrouck, Kelsey Ernst, Mallory Comerford, and all 3 relays. Come and cheer on the Trojans during the exciting Championship Season!

Plainwell Defeats Marshall on Senior Night

The Plainwell Girl's Swimming and Diving team easily defeated Marshall on Thursday evening by a score of 112-73. The Most Valuable swimmers/divers of the night were the 3 fabulous seniors in their last home swim meet: Blair Kelly, Cameron Monroe, and Lindsay Wiederhold. These 3 were honored for their high achievements both in and out of the pool. They leave a legacy of being outstanding and top notch student athletes and leaders of the 2011 Trojan Swim/Dive Team. Their high school careers have brought 3 Top Six State finishes, 3 Conference Championships, numerous Invitational wins, new school records, All-State awards, and 3 Academic All-State Honors, including a State Championship in 2009 for Division 3, and many thrilling pool performances. These outstanding ladies have set the bar very high for future classes. We wish them the very best in their future endeavors!

The Swim/Dive meet featured first place finishes by the Medley Relay team, Blair Cornell, Aaryn Jewell, Mallory Comerford, Cameron Monroe, Lindsay Wiederhold, Teresa Thiel, and the 200 & 400 Free Relay Teams. The Trojans won 10 of 12 events. Parents were also honored and the team appreciates their great support and sacrifices during the season. Coach John Dubois' team appears in great form for the upcoming Championship season. We wish them best of luck. The team has one more dual meet left. The Trojans travel to Kalamazoo Hackett on Tuesday.

Plainwell Finishes:

200 Medley Relay
Jewell, Wiederhold, A. VanderBoon, M. VanderBoon 1st 2:04.24
Thiel, Gauthier, Ernst, Seiler 3rd 2:07.84
Liceaga, Vanderhoff, Lash, Kelly 5th 2:24.76

200 Freestyle
Cornell 1st 2:11.03
Boylan 2nd 2:14.60
Childress 4th 2:21.04

200 IM
Jewell 1st 2:35.77
Ernst 2nd 2:42.64
Hochstedler 4th 2:45.93

50 Freestyle
Comerford 1st :24.88
Seiler 3rd :27.45
M. VanderBoon 4th :27.46

Diving
Monroe 1st 232.30

100 Butterfly
Wiederhold 1st 1:02.63
Cornell 2nd 1:09.92
Boylan 4th 1:15.63

100 Freestyle
A. VanderBoon 1st :59.63
Gauthier 3rd 1:03.07
Kelly 6th 1:08.12

500 Freestyle
Thiel 1st 5:56.53
Ernst 3rd 6:16.33
Loftus 5th 6:52.13

200 Free Relay
Boylan, A. VanderBoon, M. VanderBoon, Wiederhold 1st 1:49.53
Kelly, Seiler, Cornell, Childress 3rd 1:55.25
Townsend, Vanslambrouck, Grote, Wilgenhof 5th 2:08.75

100 Backstroke
Jewell 1st 1:12.56
Liceaga 4th 1:16.96
Lash 6th 1:20.42

100 Breaststroke
Hochstedler 3rd 1:27.50
Mills 5th 1:34.79
Vanderhoff 6th 1:36.03

400 Free Relay
Ernst, Boylan, Thiel, Cornell 1st 4:09.41
Childress, Oakes, Vanslambrouck, Jewell 2nd 4:16.90
Grote, Loftus, Lash, Hochstedler 5th 4:48.37

Plainwell Sinks Allegan in Meet - Duo Effort Fundraiser a Big Winner!

The Plainwell Girl's Swimming and Diving Team steamrolled Allegan last evening with a convincing 111-65 victory. The Trojans started fast with a 1-2 finish in the Medley Relay, a 1-2-3 finish in the 50 Freestyle, and continued to build on its lead throughout the evening. The meet was highlighted by double individual victories by Lindsay Wiederhold and Teresa Thiel. Lindsay once again easily commanded the distance events while Thiel had a state qualifying time in the 100 Butterfly and also won the 50 Free. The 400 Free Relay teams also had a 1-2 finish and the 200 Free Relay was also victorious. Other individual winners were Mallory Comerford (200 IM) and Cameron Monroe (diving). Other great performances were turned in by Aaryn Jewell, Molly Boylan, Blair Cornell, Kelsey Ernst, Cameron Vanderhoff and Haley Childress. The Trojans stand at 6-0 in the Southwest and Central Swimming League and have 2 dual meets left with Marshall and Kalamazoo Hackett. The Conference Meet is November 4-5 and the Trojans seek their 9th straight championship.

The swim/dive meet also marked the second successful fund raising event for the team. Over $2000 was raised by both the Allegan and Plainwell teams for a local charity named Safe Harbor. Awesome job, girls!

Plainwell Finishes:

200 Medley Relay

Seiler, Gauthier, Thiel, Comerford 1st

A. VanderBoon, Cornell, M. VanderBoon, Jewell 2nd

Liceaga, Hochstedler, Lash, Kelly 6th

200 Freestyle

Wiederhold 1st

Ernst 4th

Vanslambrouck 5th

200 IM

Comerford 1st

Cornell 3rd

Boylan 4th

50 Freestyle

Thiel 1st

Jewell 2nd

A. VanderBoon 3rd

Diving

Monroe 1st

100 Butterfly

Thiel 1st
M. VanderBoon 2nd

Ernst 5th

100 Freestyle

Jewell 2nd

Seiler 3rd
Gauthier 5th

500 Freestyle

Wiederhold 1st

Boylan 3rd

Vanslambrouck 6th

200 Free Relay

Gauthier, Boylan, Cornell, Wiederhold 1st

Kelly, Thiel, Ernst, Childress 3rd

Oakes, Loftus, Vanslambrouck, Lash 5th

100 Backstroke

A. VanderBoon 3rd

Seiler 4th

Liceaga 6th

100 Breaststroke

Gauthier 2nd

Hochstedler 5th

400 Free Relay

Jewell, A. VanderBoon, M. VanderBoon, Wiederhold 1st

Boylan, Seiler, Ernst, Comerford 2nd

Oakes, Vanslambrouck, Childress, Vanderhoff 5th

Plainwell Swims/Dives Past Otsego

The Trojans easily handled Otsego on Tuesday evening in a conference dual meet. Plainwell used its superior depth to outdistance the Bulldogs 111-71 at the Plainwell Middle School pool. John Dubois' Trojans won 6 events on the night and the 200 Freestyle Relay featured our two phenomenal divers (Cameron Monroe & Kim Jones) SWIMMING very respectable splits in the relay! Individual winners included Ally Seiler (200 Free), Molly Boylan (50 Free), Kim Jones (Diving), Karalyn Vanslambrouck (100 Free), and Mallory Comerford (100 Breaststroke). The 200 Free Relay was also victorious. The Trojans travel to St. Joseph on Thursday.

The night also included a perishable food collection for the Christian Neighbors Organization of Otsego. Both teams participated and a generous amount of canned foods were collected. Many thanks to both teams, parents, and spectators for their contributions to this very worthy and local organization. A photo is attached.