Ten years ago, West Ottawa stunned state with unexpected title

HOLLAND - Ten years ago, the West Ottawa girls swim team put together one of the most dominant performances at a state meet prelims.

At the team dinner after prelims and before finals, West Ottawa coach Steve Bowyer had a simple message for the team: "We can win this."

It didn't matter that the Panthers came in to the meet ranked third.

It didn't matter that this same group had an awful prelims the year before and ended up seventh one year after being state runner-up.

It didn't matter that everyone was talking about the top teams from the East side of the state - whether Saline or Farmington Hills Mercy would come out on top.

What mattered was the Panthers put together one of the greatest performances in state meet history and pulled a stunning upset to win their first girls swimming and diving state title.

"It didn’t feel like real life walking in that morning knowing what the outcome could be," Mercedes Martinez said. "It was crazy to think that we had a chance to upset some of these dominant teams from the east side of the state, but with each event, the energy exploded even more and it started to become more real."

After a decade, the swimmers and divers are spread all over the country. Some swam and dove in college, some went into the military, some are nurses and other medical specialists.

It was a remarkable class, led by seniors Anna Babinec, Anna Battistello, Lauren DeShaw, Caroline Fender, Elizabeth Fris, Chelsea Rish and Colleen Vande Poel. Underclassmen included Dani VanderZwaag, Emily Lacy, Mercedes Martinez, Devon Litteral, Emily Kamper and Eliza Root.

No West Ottawa team has been this loaded with talent. And no team stepped up and put it all together at once the same way this 2012 group did.

More:West Ottawa swims to Division 1 state championship

Twelve athletes scored in the meet with several reaching far past their predicted places and getting into the finals.

One by one, the performances built, starting with a state championship in the 200 medley relay to open the meet with Vande Poel, Battistello, Rish and Fender.

"I can clearly remember standing up on the podium after winning the medley relay. It was an amazing feeling to leave high school swimming, where it all started. Winning the medley relay freshman year and winning again senior year is something I will never forget," Vande Poel said. "I remember sitting down at a team dinner after prelims. And Steve told us, 'We can win.' Immediately we all looked at each other and knew what we had to do."

It was on from there.

Fris took fourth in the 200 freestyle, followed by Vande Poel, who took seventh in the 200 IM, making the finals in her second-best event.

Then in the 50 freestyle, the Panthers got all four of their swimmers in the top 16, an event that turned the tide.

Babinec took third, Fender was seventh, DeShaw took 12th and Battistello, who was thrown into this event as her second event not expected to score, was 13th.

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If that wasn't enough momentum, VanderZwaag then won diving.

"One memory that comes to my mind right away is our goal going into the weekend was to place top three. On finals day, I remember right after Dani won diving, Steve saying, 'We actually might win this thing!' and I remember the energy shifting from there on out."

Battistello shined in her top event, taking seventh in the 100 butterfly, while Martinez snuck into the B final and took 14th.

Babinec then took second in the 100 freestyle ,while Fender was 12th, DeShaw was 13th and Lacy, who like Battistello before her took care of business in her second event and took 15th.

The momentum was growing so much that other teams saw what was happening, even rivals.

"Above all else, I remember the teams from the West side of the state - most notably, our sworn rival Rockford - going out of their way to cheer us on, yelling, 'West side, best side,' when it became clear that we had a chance to pull off an upset and win the meet. It was a true testament to how certain moments can bring people together and create memories that are hard to forget. We were able to claim success as athletes of not only West Ottawa, but as athletes representing the west side of the state, and I think that’s really beautiful."

Fris took second in the 500 freestyle and Kamper was 16th.

Babinec, DeShaw, Fender and Fris won the 200 freestyle relay, the one event they were perhaps favored in coming into the meet.

Vande Poel took second in the 100 backstroke and Lacy was ninth. Rish took 11th in the 100 breaststroke and Litteral was 14th.

The Panthers capped the meet by taking second in the 400 freestyle relay.

"I will never forget before heading into the final 400 free relay what Steve had told the four of us in that relay and it was, 'All you have to do is finish the race and not disqualify. You do that and we win.' When the relay was finished, our whole team was screaming as we knew that meant we won and then to wait for the state title to be announced felt like an eternity, but when it was, there was an immediate eruption of tears, joy, and a huge feeling of unity and team accomplishment. I know that the group we were at state with was the same group since elementary school and that was always our group goal was to win state as a team, and to do that our senior year - what a way to finish out on that high note as a team. Couldn’t have imagined the ending of our high school swim careers to end in a better way."

Few teams at the Division 1 level can go into a state meet with 13 athletes and have 12 of them score - and 10 of them in multiple events.

The Panthers won with 293.5 points, ahead of Mercy (272) and Saline (266).

The relays and top swimmers performed as anticipated, but it was the secondary swimmers in each event that moved up into the final or the consolation final that added up those points.

A lot of that stemmed from the energy of knowing what was possible.

"I also remember Steve doing the math and telling us that we actually had a chance of winning the meet, which seemed crazy considering the teams we were up against," Lacy said. "After he told us we could actually win, that was the only thing I think a lot of us could think of. I remember cheering the team on more than I ever had before with each other. When the final event was finished, I remember all huddling around with each other as they were announcing the final scores of the teams and as they announced us winning the D1 state meet, it was instant cheering, hugging, and crying, seeing as our hard work paid off. seeing the pictures and memories pop up on my Facebook still gives me goosebumps."

Something the team still remembers vividly. But nothing compares to the bond the team had before, and after.

"When I think back to the meet, I just remember every race being more and more exciting. From start to finish we worked together as a team, and created such a positive atmosphere. I think part of the reason it was so special was because it was such a big surprise," Fris said. "All season we had worked together and focused hard on getting top 3, and wanted a better finish than the season before, but we had never really talked about winning state, until Steve brought it up after prelims. Everything that day really did feel like a dream. It is hard to put what we were feeling into words. After spending so many hours together at the pool since we had been very little, it was the most perfect way to end our time swimming together. The bond we had made after countless hours in the pool was truly something special."

Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.