Marmion swims to 3rd in conference

When you looked at the quality of swim teams on-deck at Fenwick Saturday for the Metro Catholic Athletic Conference meet, it’s clear that finishing anywhere at or near the top was going to be an achievement for any team.

And Marmion saw some great achievements, taking third against some very strong competition.

“We swam really well,” Schalz said. “We got a couple more state cuts today and I think we’re set up very well for the sectional meet. The guys stepped up and raced. We’ve done well all year, but today, we had an across-the-board effort.”

St. Ignatius won the meet, defeating perennial power Loyola Academy. Marmion finished third, 1 point ahead of Fenwick.

“They’re coached by Dave Stephens, who’s a former Michigan swimmer, and they’ve done a really good job building for this over the years,” Schalz said.

Schalz said his team was well setup for its run toward the top of the conference standings.

“We didn’t have the big guns that some of the teams had,” Schalz said. “But we do have depth. That’s good for this meet where maybe it’s not so good for the state meet. But we swam really, really well today too.”

Marmion senior Ben Kanute claimed the Senior Swimmer of the Year award. He was second in the 200-yard freestyle and won the 500 freestyle.

Kanute’s leadership skills may be needed in this postseason because the Cadets are going to be youthful when they head to Neuqua Valley for the Feb. 19 sectional.

“We’re a young team,” Schalz said. “We’re going to probably have two freshmen and two sophomores swimming at the sectional. Half our sectional lineup is going to be underclassmen. That bodes well for the future.”

Schalz said Kanute exudes calm on-deck, and that’s exactly what he feels this team needs.

“He’s a good leader, he has got that leadership quality about him,” Schalz said. “He doesn’t need to yell at people to assert his leadership. He leads by example.”

Marmion had other solid finishes. The Cadets’ 200 medley relay was second, Andy Healy was runner-up in the 200 individual medley and also second in the 100 backstroke, Alex Purcell was third in the 100 butterfly while Dan Duhig and Zach Bennett finished 3-4 in the 100 breaststroke.

In heading to Neuqua Valley for their sectional meet, the Cadets know they are traveling to one of the toughest sectionals in the state. That’s not something that particularly worries or bothers Schalz.

“It’s an unbelievably loaded sectional,” he said. “The thing that’s good is that you can be seventh in that meet and still qualify for state. As a team, you can be fifth at that meet and still have a shot at being Top 10 in the state. It is a very deep meet, but that means you get to swim against fast kids.”