BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Although Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook has claimed the MHSAA Division 3 state swimming and diving team championship for the past four years, it doesn’t get old for the Cranes because they keep finding new ways to win.
Even though they were rated as the fourth-best team going into last weekend’s final meet at the Holland Aquatic Center, the Cranbrook camp seemed to sense that they had the goods to extend their championship streak.
“It was roughly a 12-point meet on paper (first to second place) based on the psych sheet,” coach Paul Ellis said. “I scored it out and ran it down with the boys. I told them, ‘This is where we’re strong, and this is what we need to do.’ The boys just executed the plan almost perfectly. When it's roughly a 50-point difference from first to fourth place, it’s really anyone’s game. If a team gets real hot they can move up.”
Cranbrook "moved up" due to its strong preliminary round Friday, which positioned their swimmers well to score big points during Saturday’s final heats.
When the finals started, Cranbrook jumped out to a big lead quickly, forcing the other teams to play catch-up throughout the day. First, Ryan Van Dyke, A.J Farner, Ethan Xu and Tucker Long won the medley relay in 1:33.13. Next, Farner took first the 200 freestyle (1:39.12) and Van Dyke finished sixth in the same heat. Then Xu and Will Schwab put down second- and third-place finishes in the individual medley, giving Cranbrook a 48-point lead on the rest of the pack.
“That goes back to our first state title (in the streak) when we beat East Grand Rapids — we beat them in the very first relay by 1/100th of a second,” Ellis said. “When you get a performance like that, it creates energy, confidence and a buzz among the kids. The boys rode that momentum all the way through the meet.”
At the end of the day, Cranbrook outscored the field with 261 points. Pre-meet favorite Holland Christian (214), East Grand Rapids (196), Spring Lake (165) and DeWitt (141) filled out the top five.
“Each time we’ve won it’s been a little bit different. We knew it was going to be a close battle between a couple of talented teams. A majority of this team had never been there before, but we had some good leadership,” Farner said. “We knew the medley relay was really good to win, and it was really important because momentum carries over. That was a big part of it for us.”
Farner — who also won the breaststroke (55.80) — and Schwab — third in the 500 free (4:42.24) — took part in each of Cranbrook’s titles in the current string. He defended his title in the 200 but did not swim the backstroke, which he won at the 2025 meet.
“Early on in the season we sat down with him and said he might not be swimming his best events at the state meet, for what the team needs,” Ellis said. “He understood what he needed to do as a leader and the captain of our team. That was something that helped us point-wise. He stepped up and did a great job. He’s so versatile in what he can swim, his college coach (at Georgetown) will have a great job finding spots where he can swim.”
“I knew from the start of the season just where the team needed me, and I wanted to do whatever I could do the help the team,” Farner said.
Ellis also gave Schwab credit for his state-meet performance.
“He had a rough 100 fly on Friday, but he put that behind him pretty quickly and came back Saturday swimming two lifetime bests,” Ellis said. “If you don’t swim well in one of your best events, it can really get in your head, but he didn’t let it get to him. I’m thrilled as a coach about that.”
Even though Cranbrook’s route to the top has been a little bit different each year, Farner and Ellis do see one big similarity.
“We’d had a group of really good leaders ever since I’d been there, and we’d all learned from each other,” Farner said. “We stepped up and rallied together in a hard-working atmosphere and really relied on each other to swim fast. I think that’s where we really excelled.”
“This has been a really great run, really something to be a part of, watching each class mature into the leadership roles and keep the culture going within the program,” Ellis said. “(The seniors) really wanted to complete that four-peat; that doesn’t get to happen too often. They wanted to make sure they left their legacy.”
Division 2: University of Detroit Jesuit is runner-up
This meet was largely a two-team race, but in the end, a powerful Byron Center squad thwarted University of Detroit Jesuit’s attempt to defend their state title from 2025. The Cubs finished with 316 points, behind Byron Center (338) but well ahead of third-place Dexter (173).
“They came into the season understanding they were underdogs, and we had a lot of conversations about it,” U of D Jesuit coach Drew Edson said. “When they went into the state meet, they did it with a smile on their face. We had almost all lifetime bests, and at the end of the meet they said we did what we could.”
The Cubs’ Jack McCuiston, Miles Lobley, Cooper Masters and Charlie McCuiston closed out the meet at Eastern Michigan University by winning the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, in 3:08:04.
Charlie McCuiston won the 200 free (1:38.01) and finished second in the 100 free (45.33).
The McCuiston brothers, Lobley and Adam Smigielski placed second in the 200 free relay (1:25.26), and Charlie Michael added a second-place in the breaststroke (56.19). Third-place finishes were turned in by Jack McCuiston in the individual medley (1:53.55) and Masters in the backstroke (52.15).
“They did a really great job of understanding their position and doing everything they could to fight and get to the point where something was within their reach,” Edson said. “Honestly, we had quite a few kids step up this year who understood they had some shoes to fill. That was really cool to see these kids do what needed to be done. Our kids are resilient, and I‘m proud of them.”
At the same meet, Ann Arbor Greenhills' cooperative program finished seventh with 94 points. Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice was 11th (77) and Warren De La Salle was 29th (9). Greenhills’ Chris Gregg was third in the 500 free (4:37.80) and fifth in the individual medley (1:54.88). Turner Worth led Brother Rice with a fourth-place showing in the butterfly (50.77).
Division 1: Catholic Central reaches podium
At Oakland University: Novi Detroit Catholic Central finished as a podium team, claiming the fourth-place trophy with 163 points. The Shamrocks trailed only champion Ann Arbor Pioneer (283), Northville (254) and last year’s winner, Saline (226).
Camren Turowski, who set two Catholic League records the prior weekend at the CHSL finals, placed second in the 50 freestyle (20.51) and third in the 100 free (44.96) against a loaded field. Both of Turowski’s times fell within the All-American consideration standards.
Freshman Edward Lesnau placed fifth in the 500 free (4:41.90), and Bobby Gusumano, James Meiselach, Lesnau and Turowski collectively finished fifth in the 400 free relay (3:07.09).
