The Milan News-Leader
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Yes!
Big Reds storm to 10th at state
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 15, 2007
Before the Division 2 boys' swimming and diving state meet last weekend, Milan coach Dan Heikka said that "anything could happen."
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Anything did.
Behind a state championship performance from senior Ryan Bordine in the 100-yard freestyle, the Big Reds took a surprising 10th place at the meet, held on the campus of Oakland University.
"It's unbelievable," Bordine said. "Everything fell into place. We might not have had the most talent, but it was obvious which team had the most heart."
Heikka had said that a 15th-place finish would be a terrific accomplishment for his shorthanded squad, which qualified only six swimmers — seniors Bordine, Jason Schroeder and Kyle Cornelison, junior Ian Pendleton, and sophomores Tim Hochradel and Kray Cornelison — and a diver, senior Cody Schmitt, for state.
To finish 10th, he said afterward, was nothing less than amazing.
"Days like Saturday are why I'm a coach," he said. "There's an old saying in sports that hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. I'm not saying these other teams don't work hard, but I'm sure that no one has worked harder than these guys. Both Friday (during the preliminaries) and Saturday, we just wanted it that badly."
The team clinched its 10th-place finish with a victory in the consolation heat of the final event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Hochradel, Pendleton, Schroeder and Bordine had climbed from a pre-meet 19th seed to 13th with a time of 3:20.37 in the preliminaries.
After Heikka informed his swimmers they could grab a top-10 finish with a win in the consolation heat, which matches up the eight swimmers ranked ninth through 16th after preliminaries, the Big Reds surged to a time of 3:17.95. The time was good for first place in the heat, ninth overall, and a staggering seven seconds under their best regular season time.
"After we talked, you could see the light in their eyes, the excitement, the determination in their faces," Heikka said. "They knew what they had to do. To see them go out and do it … it was just unbelievable."
That victory moved Milan into a 10th-place tie with Tecumseh with 80 points, just behind ninth place.
The Big Reds had been put into that position thanks in large part to the brilliance of Bordine. The senior had hoped for a state title in the 50 freestyle, but finished second to Brian Kerr of East Grand Rapids by a mere tenth of a second in the finals, despite a personal-best time of 21.12.
That defeat would only add fuel to the fire for Bordine's attempt at the 100 freestyle crown. After entering the meet seeded sixth, Bordine moved to second with a 47.49 in the preliminaries, behind only Eric Solis of Holland. But Bordine would lead Solis nearly the entire race in the final, edging the freshman by the same tenth of a second margin with a time of 46.69.
"It set me back a bit. It got under my skin," Bordine said of his runner-up finish in the 50 freestyle. "Going into the 100, I took that with me and went all out. And I came out on top. To look up and see a '1' by your name, that you've gone as high up as you can get, it was indescribable."
Heikka was quick to point out that while Bordine was "no doubt" the team MVP, he was not the only Milan swimmer to make an impact. Pendleton scored for the Big Reds with a personal-best 22.50 in the 50 freestyle, which was good for 14th. Along with Kray Cornelison, Bordine and Schroeder, the junior was also part of the 200 freestyle relay team that stunned the field by moving from their 19th seed all the way to eighth with a time of 1:29.63 in the preliminaries and 1:29.64 in the finals.
"Ryan had a great meet, but this was a team effort," Heikka said. "Without Cornelison, Hochradel and Schroeder swimming their best times on the relays, it doesn't happen."
Even Milan performances that did not score points proved to be lifetime bests. Pendleton came within four slots of a finals appearance with a 49.59 in the 100 freestyle, which was good for 20th place. Hochradel finished 35th in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:09.45 and Kyle Cornelison closed out his Milan career in 41st with a 58.18 in the 100 butterfly.
In the diving competition, Schmitt scored a 133.25 in the preliminary round to finish 26th.
Heikka said that if his team needed further good news, it was that three of the seven state team members would return in 2008, all the better for their experience at states this season.
But for now, there was plenty of time to reflect on the remarkable end to 2007.
"I could not be prouder of any of them," Heikka said. "They pulled together, and as a team they swam as well as they possibly could."
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