Hornets Swim to Victory at Pioneer

With all the state championship banners hanging on the wall around the pool at Ann Arbor Pioneer, it’s hard not to leave the school happily after a win on the road. And yet, after Saline defeated Pioneer, 107-79, Thursday, Hornet coach Todd Brunty wasn’t thrilled with his team’s performance.

“You look around this pool and you see all the state championships and you see Denny Hill over there and you should know that you need to give your best,” said Brunty.

Lately, Brunty said, he’s not sure he’s getting the best performances out of his team. At last weekend’s Lakeview Invitational, Saline (ranked first in D1) finished second behind Birmingham Seaholm (ranked first in Division 2).

“Even with is hard as we’re training, I don’t think that’s an event we should lose,” Brunty said. “We’ve got a couple holes and depth issues right now. We’ve got the swimmers to fill those holes. We’re going to get there. But it’s not just going to happen by itself. We’re going to have work hard.”

The Hornets won all three relays at Pioneer and six of the eight individual swimming events Thursday.

Saline opened by taking the top two places in the 200-yard medley relay. Adam Whitener, David Boland, James Fisher and Will McCollough took first in 1:40.29, making the D1 cut. Tom Walls, Josh Ehrman, Michael Bundas and Geoffrey Duong were second in 1:41.12, also beating the D1 cut.

The Hornets were shut out of the top three in the 200-yard freestyle. Erhman (1:54.36) and Whitener (1:58.91) went 1-2 in the 200-yard medley. Both swam D1 cut times. Ehrman’s time was the best ever in a Saline-Pioneer meet.

Boland won the 50-yard freestyle in 21.60 to set another Saline-Pioneer meet record. Fisher was third in 22.60 to make the D1 cut.

Pioneer’s Daniel Goldstein won the diving event. Saline’s Sam Blair, Ethan Johnson and Dustin Wall finished second, third and fourth.

Matt Stevens won the 100-yard butterfly in 55.60. Bundas was second in 56.54.

Fisher was first in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing in 49.24 and beating the D1 cut. Tom Walls was second in 49.70.

Pioneer’s Seiji Osawa and Saline’s Boland had a great race in the 500-yard freestyle. Osawa won by less than a second in 4:41.14. Both swimmers bested the old Saline-Pioneer mark set by Ehrman in 2011. Lucas Allen was third.

Ehrman, Bundas, Stevens and Boland took the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:30.33.

Whitener won the 100-yard backstroke in 53.81, besting the D1 state cut and the Saline-Pioneer meet record. Tom Walls also beat the state cut, finishing second in 55.54.

Erhman won the 100-yard breaststroke in 59.72 to best the state cut by better than three seconds.

The Hornets closed with a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Fisher, Stevens, Walls and Whitener won the event in 3:21.51 and beat the D1 cut.