2021 MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals
- Saturday March 13, 2021
- Marquette Senior High School, Marquette, Mi
- Short Course Yards
- Full Results
The Michigan High School Athletic Association held the Upper Peninsula state meet on March 13. The Upper Peninsula or “UP” schools compete in a separate state meet than their Lower Peninsula counterparts. The Sault Area High School girls captured their first state title in a tight meet with Marquette, while the Marquette boys won in dominant fashion to secure their second title in a row and 28th overall.
Girls Meet
Sault Area got the meet rolling as they smashed the UP record in the 200 medley relay. Junior Anna Hildebrand (30.21), senior Aliah Robertson (29.28), sophomore Julie Innerebner (27.74), and junior Joanne Arbic (24.97) broke their own record of 1:54.26 from last year as they dropped over two seconds to win in 1:52.20.
Marquette would take the lead in the meet as they placed three swimmers in the top four of the 200 freestyle. Senior Lexi LaCombe of Marquette was behind at the 150 mark by over a second. She used a 31.85 last 50 to surge ahead to win in 2:04.97. This was LaCombe’s second individual state title of her career as she previously won the 100 backstroke in 2018.
SAHS would be led in the meet by a pair of double-event winners. Robertson’s two wins would come with something extra – two state records. Her first record came in the 200 IM where she broke her own record of 2:10.02 from 2019 to win by over 15 seconds in 2:08.40. In the 100 breaststroke, she again broke her own record of 1:05.50 from 2020 with a 1:03.68. This gives Robertson a perfect eight individual state titles for her career.
Arbic would win the 50 and 100 freestyle events for the third year in a row. Her time of 25.03 in the 50 was about a half second off her state record time of 24.49 from last year while her time of 55.45 in the 100 was faster than her winning time of 55.66 from last year.
Marquette had the advantage in diving as they placed first and third in the event. Senior Haddie Ketzenberger would end her career with a state title with a score of 186.00.
Freshman Adelaide McRoberts of Kingsford High School made an impact in her first state meet. Her first individual swim resulted not only in a state title but a state record as well. Her time of 58.89 in the 100 butterfly erased the mark of 59.27 that Roberston set as a freshman. She would win her second state title of her young career as she captured the 100 backstroke in 59.68.
Another freshman that made an impact on the meet was Grace Sobczak of Marquette. She won the 500 freestyle in 5:31.13 and led a 1-2 finish for Marquette to stay in the title hunt.
Sobczak didn’t get much rest as she followed-up her win in the 500 by leading-off Marquette’s 200 freestyle relay. Sobczak (26.90), junior Ella Whelan (25.54), junior Delaney Marchiol (27.73), and LaCombe (24.28) won the event by almost 12 seconds with a time of 1:44.45.
Sault Area would cement their state title as Robertson (52.39), Hildebrand (56.83), Innerebner (59.05), and Arbic (55.43) would set another record by winning the 400 freestyle relay in 3:43.70. This breaks the previous record of 3:48.39 set two years ago by Marquette.
Final Girls Scores
- Sault Area High School – 347
- Marquette – 313
- Kingsford – 162
- Westwood – 148
- Houghton High School – 105
- Rudyard High School – 90
- Ishpeming-Negaunee – 87
- Manistique – 30
Boys Meet
Marquette would begin their trek to the state title with a dominant victory in the opening event from a quartet of sophomores. Andrew King (29.12), Colin Vanderschaaf (28.14), Liam McFarren (25.56), and Maverick Baldwin (22.67) would combine to win the 200 medley relay by over five seconds with a time of 1:45.49.
McFarren and Vanderschaaf led Marquette as each won two individual titles. McFarren’s first title came in the 200 freestyle as he swam to a six second victory in 1:54.84. McFarren led a 1-2-3 finish for Marquette in the 100 butterfly as he won in 59.84 for his second title of the meet and third of his career as he won the 100 freestyle last year.
Vanderschaaf’s first win came in the 500 freestyle as he led the field to win by almost 18 seconds with a time of 5:14.80. He’d follow that win up by taking the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.28.
Senior Morgan Burd of Sault Area was another double-event winner. His first win came in the 50 freestyle as he outswam the field to win by .20 seconds in 22.68. Burd would win the 100 backstroke for the second year in a row. His time of 55.55 won the event by over eight seconds and was just off his winning time of 55.33 from last year. Burd finishes his career with four individual titles.
Baldwin, who placed third in the 50 free behind Burd, would move up in the 100 to win his first state title in 52.67.
Marquette would sweep the relay events. Senior Hobey Manson (23.17), King, senior Jackson O’Connor, and junior Bobby Caron (23.85) would take the 200 freestyle relay in 1:34.76. McFarren (51.80), Baldwin (53.58), Caron (53.48), and Vanderschaaf (50.41) would close out the meet by winning the 400 free relay in 3:29.27.
Junior Davin Evans of Houghton High School won his second state title as he took the 200 IM in 2:13.84. Evans won the 100 breaststroke in 2020.
Senior Cameron Bauers led a 1-2 finish for SAHS in the 1-meter diving event with a score of 232.95.
Final Boys Scores
- Marquette – 421
- Houghton High School – 227
- Sault Area High School – 170
- Kingsford – 107
- Manistique – 84
- Rudyard High School – 81
- Ishpeming-Negaunee – 70
- Westwood – 7