Dexter is going for the three-peat and they should be right there with a chance to win it when the teams line up on Saturday at Oakland University for the Division 2 MHSAA State Swimming and Diving championships.
“We’re excited to get to Oakland and see what we can do,” said Dexter Coach Michael McHugh. “It’s going to be a great meet.”
There is no doubt what team everyone will be taking aim at on the pool deck.
“We’ve got a bullseye on our back after the last two years and if things break right for us, we should be in the mix come Saturday,” McHugh said.
The Dreadnaughts have won the last two meets by concentrating on what they can control and not worrying about their opponents. That will be the game plan again going into Saturday.
“We’ve just got to stay focused on what we can control and see where the chips fall,” McHugh said. “We can’t be worrying about other teams, if we can stay on task I think we’ll be very happy with how we’ve performed.”
Last year, Dexter won the final relay of the meet and finished with 284 points to beat second-place Ann Arbor Huron (256.65 points) at the Division 2 state finals at EMU.
The Dreadnaughts warmed up for the state meet with a dominant performance at the SEC White Division league meet.
The foursome of Alex Shehab, Sam Krahn, Stephen Sterlitz and Tanner Sharp opened the meet with a win in the medley relay with a time of 1:38.55.
The Dreads went one-two in the 200 free with Niklas Eberly taking first (1:43.19) and Casey Dolen in second (1:43.89).
Clayton Kinnard was second in the 200 IM in 2:03.1.
In the 50 free, Stephen Sterlitz was second in 22.35, Tanner Sharp was third in 22.45 and Nathan Norris was fifth in 23.01.
Yaw Oduro was fourth (305 points) and Evan Micelli was fifth (275.4) in diving.
Dexter went one-two in the butterfly as Eberly touched first in 50.58 and Sterlitz was second in 53.92.
In the 100 free, Dolen was second in 48.40 and Shehab was fourth in 49.54.
Tony Golin won the 500 free in 4:59.81.
Dexter won the 200 free relay as the team of Eberly, Sharp, Sterlitz and Dolen touched first in 1:27.21.
Dexter went one-two in the backstroke as Shehab won in 52.55 and Clayton Kinnard was second in 56.25. Leo Varitek was fifth in 1:00.42.
The Dreads dominated the breaststroke. Krahn was second (1:02.22), Sharp was third (1:02.67), Norris was fourth (1:03.24) and Paul Schaefer was fifth (1:04.20).
Dexter wrapped up the meet with a first place in the 400 free relay. The team of Eberly, Shehab, Kinnard and Dolen went 3:15.46.
