The Eagles competed in the MHSAA Division 3 State Finals on Saturday looking to finish in the top 6 and possibly having a chance at a 4th place finish.  

Starting off finals the Eagles had Evan Nelson in the 200 Yard Freestyle, he fought hard and was able to hold his place finishing with a time of 1:49.75.  Next event up for the Eagles was the 50 Yard Freestyle.  Max O'Grady started off the event strong for the Eagles claiming 1st in his heat and finishing 9th.  Ben Sytsma was up next and all eyes were watching as everyone knew there was a chance he would swim a sub 20 second 50 Free.  Ben once again broke his own school record with a 19.98 second effort.  This was the 2nd time in state history that a high school swimmer has gone sub 20 seconds in the 50 free.  The aquatic center erupted and cheered, everyone there will never forget that moment.  Congrats to Ben for this great achievement.  The time also made Ben an automatic All-American.  

The 100 Yard Freestyle was the next event and the Eagles had 2 All-State swimmers in this event.  Emmett Vance went a personal best of 47.74 seconds and moved up 2 spots into 6th place.  Emmett's time just missed out on passing GR Christian Hall of Famer Brad Flikkema's time of 47.71 to be the 2nd fastest sophomore in school history.  3rd place to Ben Sytsma and Brad Flikkema is not a bad place to be.  In Ben's 100 Free, he went 44.00 and tied the 2nd fastest swim in division 3 state history. This swim also was automatic All-American.  Evan Nelson finished in 15th with a time of 5:02.65 in the 500 Yard Freestyle. 

The 200 Yard Freestyle Relay was up next for Ben Sytsma, Emmett Vance, Mace Boender, and Max O'Grady.  The boys had their sights on a state title in this event and they were not going to let anyone else beat them finishing a full 2 seconds ahead of the competition.  Senior Ben Sytsma started off the relay with another school record and sub 20 second swim of 19.96 seconds.  Emmett swam a 21.41 relay pickup which was the 9th fastest in school history and 2nd fastest time for any sophomore in school history.  Mace Boender was next up on the relay and swam the first official 21 point swim of his career going a 21.75 which has him in 17th place in school history.  Anchoring the relay for the Eagles, Senior Max O'Grady swam his fastest 50 free split of his life going 21.44, which ties him for 10th place in school history.  The relay finished 1st with a time of 1:24.56 which also broke a school record and finished the fastest of all 3 divisions!  The time put the boys in a position to be All-American as they made the All-American consideration time.  The previous school record was held by Luke Foll, Ben Rusticus, Cade Boender, and Ben Sytsma.  

Boender history:

Jake Boender held the 200 free relay with teammates Zach VanDinther, Christian Walldorff and Tim Randall in 2016 which was broken by Cade Boender and his teammates Luke Foll, Ben Rusticus and Ben Sytsma in 2022.  Which now has been broken by Mace Boender and his teammates Ben Sytsma, Emmett Vance, and Max O'Grady.

The last swim of the day was the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay, with Ben Sytsma leading off the Eagles started off the strongest any team in division 3 has ever started.  Ben bettered his 100 Free swim from earlier in the meet to go sub 44!!!!  43.87 seconds beat Cam Peels previous record of 43.94 that was set back in 2019.  Next up for the Eagles was Emmett Vance, he clocked in at 47.30 which is the 7th fastest time in school history and his the second fastest swim from a sophomore in school history.   Evan Nelson was the 3rd leg of the relay and went a personal best 49.01 which puts him 26th place in school history.  Anchoring the relay was Max O'Grady with another lifetime best of 47.64 which is 10th in school history.  The relay team finished with a time of 3:07.82 which is another school record beating the 2022 time from Luke Foll, Ben Rusticus, Max O'Grady and Ben Sytsma.  The boys also went fast enought for an All-American consideration time in this relay.  

We bounced back great on day 2 of the state meet and we are proud of how the boys stayed focused on what they could control.  Finishing in 6th place as a team was a good finish for us this year, we were 11 points away from 4th.  

Finals Results:

15th - 200 Freestyle - Evan Nelson - 1:49.75

1st - 50 Freestyle - Ben Sytsma - 19.98 (NEW SCHOOL RECORD - ALL AMERICAN AUTOMATIC  - ALL-STATE + 2nd time in state history a high school swimmer has been under 20 seconds in the 50 Free - Fastest of all 3 divisions)

9th - 50 Freestyle - Max O'Grady - 21.81 (8th place in school history)

1st - 100 Freestyle - Ben Sytsma - 44.00 (NEW SCHOOL RECORD - ALL-AMERICAN AUTOMATIC - ALL-STATE - Fastest of all 3 divisions)

6th - 100 Freestyle - Emmett Vance - 47.74 (ALL-STATE - 7th place in school history)

15th - 500 Freestyle - Evan Nelson - 5:02.65

1st - 200 Freestyle Relay (Ben Sytsma, Emmett Vance, Mace Boender, Max O'Grady) - 1:24.56 (NEW SCHOOL RECORD - ALL-AMERICAN CONSIDERATION - ALL-STATE - Fastest of all 3 Divisions)

2nd - 400 Freestyle Relay (Emmett Vance, Max O'Grady, Evan Nelson, Ben Sytsma) - 3:07.82 (NEW SCHOOL RECORD - ALL-AMERICAN CONSIDERATION - ALL-STATE)

Team Results:

1 - 380 - Cranbrook Kingswood

2 - 243 - East Grand Rapids

3 - 211 - Holland Christian

4 - 151 - Adrian

5 - 143 - Dewitt

6 - 140 - Grand Rapids Christian

7 - 119 - Detroit Country Day

8 - 111 - Spring Lake

9 - 96 - Hamilton

10 - 93 - Mason

11 - 79 - Otsego

11 - 79 - Flint Powers Catholic

13 - 69 - Riverview

14 - 62 - Pinckney

15 - 55 - Dundee

16 - 45 - Manistee

17 - 30 - Trenton

18 - 29 - Erie-Ida

18 - 29 - Pontiac Notre Dame Prep

20 - 25 - Alma

21 - 21 - Wayland

22 - 20 - Chelsea

23 - 16 - Grand Rapids Catholic Central

24 - 15 - Plainwell

25 - 14 - Haslett

26 - 12 - St. Joseph

27 - 6 - St. Clair

27 - 6 - Ferndale

29 - 5 - Ludington

30 - 4 - Milan

30 - 4 - Tecumseh

30 - 4 - Marshall

30 - 4 - University Liggett

34 - 2 - Coldwater

34 - 2 - Marine City

36 - 1 - Caro