Since the start of the swim season, Clarkston Coach Kenwyn Chock has maintained that junior Kandice Keen is a state level swimmer.
Keen showed a flair for the dramatic in proving her coach right as she waited until the absolute last chance, which came during the OAA Division III meet, to qualify as an individual for the MHSAA Division I State Finals.
‘She’s trained really hard for this. (Qualifying for states) is a big step for her, now she knows how fast she can go,? said Chock, who expects Keen to be a top 10 seed in the 200 IM at the state meet.
Keen made state cuts in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:26.03, and in the 200 IM with a time of 2:15.38. Both times were over two seconds under the required time for states and the latter set a OAA Division III meet record.
As a team, Clarkston found out what second place feels like for the first time this season as runners up at the OAA III meet to Farmington Hills Harrison. The Wolves finished with 402.5 points to the Hawks? 427.5.
The Wolves? saving grace is their unblemished dual meet record, which includes a victory over Harrison on Sept. 13. Because of their perfect regular season, Clarkston shares the league title with Harrison.
Standing out for the Wolves at the league meet was the 200 medley relay team comprised of Keen, freshman Christine Seiple, sophomore Alyssa Vela and freshman Molli Simpson, finishing three tenths of a second behind Harrison with a time of 1:54.17. Their time, had they not already made the state cut, would have qualified them for states as well.
‘In (the OAA III meet) they were just so tight. They’ll be a lot looser at states,? said Chock.
With the state finals set for Nov. 18-19 at Eastern Michigan University, Clarkston has now qualified three individual swimmers and three relays.
Keen joins Vela (50 and 100 freestyle) and Simpson (100 backstroke) as the Wolves? individual qualifiers. Aside from the 200 medley relay, both Clarkston’s 200 and 400 freestyle relays are qualified for states.
The 200 medley relay team is set for states. Chock will continue to use Seiple in the backstroke portion, Simpson in the breaststroke, Keen in the butterfly and Vela as the freestyle anchor.
Chock said the lineups for both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays were ‘up in the air? for the state meet.
Leading up to the OAA meet all of the swim team, with the exception of Vela, tapered their yardage in the pool down to rest muscles and ensure fresh crisp swims. With less than two weeks remaining before states, all the state qualified swimmers will increase their distance in the pool this week and rest again next week. Vela enjoys a two-week taper.
‘I expect to see some drops in their times again at states,? said Chock.