SWIM & DIVE: Saline in Battle for State Championship

The Saline boys' swim and dive team is right in the thick of a battle for the state championship after day one of the MHSAA Division 1 finals at Oakland University.

Saline and Pioneer are in the best positions to take home the big trophy, with Detroit Catholic Central and Northville not too far behind.

The Hornets appear poised to pick up a lot of points on the relays. In the 400 medley, Ethan Bull, Issac Adanin, Diego Valdes and Nick Twigg finished second in 1:34.09.  Saline was second in in the 200 freestyle relay, with Jonah Bentley, Deniz Ozil, Diego Valdes and Nick Twigg swimming in 1:25.61. In the 400 freestyle relay, Ozil, Bentley, Bull and Adanin finished third in 3:09.24.

Several Hornets had great opening days and will swim individually on championship day.

In the 200, Ozil was fourth in 1:40.6. In the 200 IM, Valdes was second (1.52.92) and Adanin was fourth (1:53.32). In the 50 freestyle, Jonah Bentley was 11th (21.5).

Valdes is the top seed after taking first in the 100 fly (50.25). Twigg was sixth (51.93) and Ethan Bull was ninth (52.96).

Ozil was fourth in the 100 freestyle (46.63) and Bentley was 14th (48.01). Nathanyel Sarment just missed qualifying by .09 seconds. In the 500 freestyle, Jack Mallon finished 17th, just .09 seconds from qualifying.

In the 100 backstroke, Bull was sixth in 52.15 seconds and Twigg was 11th in 53.06 seconds. Adanin was fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke (57.93) and Connor Lauritzen was fifth (57.99).

Diving semifinals were still underway as this article was being published. Carter Mitton was 18th, Drew Miller was 21st and Joseph Rosales was 22nd.

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