Records Fall as Hornets Swim to Historic Final Day

Just one more.

If the Saline boys’ Swim & Dive team can duplicate Friday’s MHSAA Division 1 Preliminaries performance in Saturday’s finals, they’ll win a third straight state championship. The Hornets won seven of the 12 events and had several athletes advance to the season’s final day.

Junior Josh Ehrman had a monster of a day in Eastern Michigan University pool Friday. He set D1 records as he won the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke. He also helped the 200-yard medley relay team set a D1 record.

Junior Adam Whitener also won two events, taking the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle events. David Boland won the 100-yard butterfly.

Saline also won the 400-yard freestyle relay.

The Hornets opened the day with the record setting performance in the 200-yard medley relay. Tom Walls, Josh Ehrman, David Boland and Michael Bundas finished the race in 1:33.95 to set a D1 record. Rockford was second in 1:34.76.

In the second event, Whitener won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:39.46, more than a full second faster than second place Joe Krause of Birmingham Brother Rice. Saline senior James Fisher also qualified for the “A” heat, finishing fifth in 1:41.39. Matt Stevens finished 10th and will swim in the “B” heat.

In the 200-yard individual medley, Ehrman finished in a D1 record-setting time of 1:49.34, a full second faster than Canton’s Victor Zhang. Boland came in third, finishing in 1:50.8. Stefan Koberl also qualified for the B heat, taking 13th in 1:58.32.

In the 50-yard sprint, Bundas was just .02 seconds away from qualifying for the “A” heat. He finished ninth in 21.71 seconds.

In the diving event, Sam Blair finished with a final score of 291.50 to finish third and advance to the final day of competition.

The Hornets had a heck of a race in the 100-yard butterfly. Boland, the defending state champ in the event, finished first in 49.95. Fisher was second, just .11 seconds behind. Bundas gave Saline a third swimmer in the “A” heat by taking fifth in 51.87 seconds. Walls finished 11th (52.89) and should put more points on the board for the Hornets from the “B” heat. Stevens was 17th and could find a way into the “B” heat as an alternate.

Whitener won the 100-yard freestyle in 45.32, ahead of Rockford’s Eric Chisholm (46.09).

Saline took second in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Whitener, Bundas, Stevens and Fisher finished in 1:25.54. Rockford was first in 1:24.75.

In the backstroke, Walls finished seventh in 53.77 to give Saline another “A” heat swimmer Saturday.

Ehrman set a D1 record in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing in 55.84, a full three seconds faster than the second place swimmer from Lake Orion.

The Hornets closed out the day by winning the 400-yard freestyle in 3:05.00. Boland, Fisher, Ehrman and Whitener swam for Saline, who finished 4.62 seconds faster than second place Birmingham Brother Rice. The Hornets were .17 seconds off of last year’s state record time.

Despite the great day, the Hornets don’t have a lot room for error. Saturday. Wherever there was a Saline swimmer, it seemed a Rockford swimmer was right behind.

Saturday’s action starts at noon. Tickets are $7.