The Dexter girls’ swimming and diving team enjoyed the final events of their high school careers at their home pool on Thursday night cheered on by a crowd of supporters including friends, family, teachers, team alums and retired Coach Cory Bergen. It was a bittersweet evening as they celebrated, but recognized that an era encompassing a large portion of their lives to date is wrapping up. Most of these athletes have been training and growing together since they began swimming and diving at the ages of 4-8 with their club teams.
Before the meet, the nine seniors were presented with flowers by the boys’ team captains (Travis Fitch, Lucas Greatorex and Grady Wheeler) and had the opportunity to give thanks to their supporters throughout the years, provide some words of wisdom for the underclassmen, highlight their favorite memories and share their plans for the future.
Marea Balcom began swimming at the age of 4 with AACC. She plans to major in earth and environmental sciences at the University of Michigan or Michigan State.
Vivian Kinnard comes from a long line of water sport athletes- following older siblings Amelia and Clayton, Vivian began swimming early and started diving for club in 2014. She will dive at the University of Wisconsin where she plans to major in Biology.
Natalie Koenn started swimming in second grade and hopes to continue swimming in college where she plans to major in media and communications.
Sophia Marr began swimming at the age of seven. She plans to attend the University of Michigan majoring in Women’s Studies and minoring in the History of Law and Mathematics with the goal of attending law school after undergrad.
Martina Adam Mijares began swimming just two months ago when she came to Dexter as an exchange student and was rapidly welcomed onto the team. She will continue her studies in Spain next year where she is an accomplished synchronized swimmer.
Sefina Patterson began diving at 7 years old with the Racquet Club of Ann Arbor. She plans to study Human Resources Management at the University of Georgia or Notre Dame.
Laura Walton began swimming at the age of 6 with Dexter Community Aquatic Club. Next year she plans to study athletic training at Northern Michigan University.
ily Witte follows swim and dive alum sisters, Kaylee and Lauren, and began swimming and diving at the age of five with Dexter Community Aquatic Club. Lily will continue her diving career at Indiana University where she plans to major in Computer Science.
Elizabeth Young began swimming at the age of 8 with Dexter Community Aquatic Club. After graduating from Dexter, Elizabeth will study digital animation and video game development at Michigan State.
Coaches also shared how much they have enjoyed mentoring these ladies and having the opportunity to watch them grow as athletes and individuals. They are excited to see how the season wraps up for them and their teammates at the Conference meet in two weeks and at the State Meet in November. They hope that these seniors will carry their high school experiences with them in their new journeys, but also hope that the seniors will continue to be a part of the team in the future. Along those lines, the underclassmen parents put on a fantastic post-meet dinner celebration with a Wizard of Oz theme complete with a rainbow arch, yellow brick road and wicked witch of the east with red ruby swim flippers—reminding them to follow the yellow brick road to their dreams, but to remember that there is always a place for them at home.
The senior Dreadnaughts started off the night with first and second place finishes in the 200 medley relay (A- Walton, Balcom, Koenn and Witte and B- Young, Marr, Adam Mijares with freshman, Rebekah Murillo). Balcom had great individual swims earning second in the 50 free and third in the 100 breaststroke and also helped her 400 free relay with Walton, Delaney Parker and Harper Brown earn first place. Laura Walton was 4th in the 50 free and first in the 500 free. Elizabeth Young was 5th in the 50 free and third in the 100 free and helped her 200 free relay finish first (with Emma Bishop, Sydney Collins and Jill Kinnard). Martina Adam Mijares was 10th in the 50 free and 3rd in the 100 butterfly.
Lily Witte had a great night earning first place in diving and second in the 500 free. Vivian Kinnard enjoyed her final dives in Wylie Pool with a great score earning her second place and getting to dive alongside younger sister, Jill. Sefina Patterson finished third in diving and locked in her bid for the Regional meet. The divers also had a great race in their traditional “Diver Relay” where Vivian Kinnard, Bella Larson, Sefina Patterson and Junia Schulz earned a third place finish for Dexter!
Sophia Marr was second in the 100 butterfly and third in the 100 backstroke. She also helped her 400 free relay earn third place (with Anna Wetzel, Addy Arbour and Annie Ralls). In addition to her first-place contribution on the medley relay, Natalie Koenn was first in the 100 backstroke.
Underclassmen Dreads also had a great meet contributing to the win. Delaney Parker won the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, Emma Bishop won the 200 free and was second in the 100 free, Harper Brown won the 50 free and was second in the 100 breaststroke, Grace McClellan was third in the 50 free and won the 100 free, and Diem Lee was first in the 100 butterfly and second in the 100 backstroke. Rebekah Murillo was second in the 200 IM and 4th in the breaststroke, Sydney Collins was 4th in the 100 free and Anna Wetzel was 5th. Ali Genske was 3rd in the 500 free.
Dexter looks forward to two weeks of taper before their SEC Red Championship meet at Pioneer on Nov. 4-5.
