Lola Mull Posts 4:48 500 at 2017 Girls HS MISCA Meet

2017 Girls HS MISCA Meet

• Saturday, October 14th
• short course yards
• EMU Jones Natatorium
• Results on MeetMobile

Grand Ledge High School Sophomore Lola Mull went 4:48.66 in the 500 at the Girls HS MISCA (Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association) Meet, winning the event by 12 seconds. Mull’s splitting was strong, nearly even splitting the race (2:23.76/2:24.90). Her time, in addition to being a personal best by almost 4 seconds (prev. best 4:52.39), puts her within striking distance of Olympic Gold Medalist Allison Schmitt‘s Michigan HS state record of 4:47.46, set in 2007. It would also be the 3rd fastest time in MHSAA history (#2 is Kristyne Cole, 4:47.86, also set in 2007), but MHSAA only includes times from the state meet in the all-time rankings.

Saline High School put together huge, would-be top 10 all-time swims to win the 200 and 400 free relays. Johanna Jorgenson (23.41), Lizzy Spears (23.73), Emily Laing (24.28), and Maddie Luther (23.40) combined to go 1:34.82 in the 200 free relay, beating 2nd place Northville HS (1:37.89) by over 3 seconds. That time would rank 7th in the all-time record book, but is still a ways off from the state record of 1:32.77 from 2002. Then Jorgenson (50.45), Spears (51.22), and Luther (51.25) teamed up with Sydney Kermath (53.51) to win the 400 free relay by 10 seconds with a time of 3:26.43. That time would rank 9th all-time and is only about 2 and a half seconds off the state record of 3:23.85, set in 2005. Saline is the defending state 400 free relay champion (3:24.44) for MHSAA D1. 3 of 4 girls from that relay return to the team this year, with Kermath replacing Maddy Murphy (split 52.07 last year), who Saline lost to graduation.

Lizzy Spears, a Senior from Saline HS and Arizona State recruit, also won the 200 IM, posting a 2:01.37. Spears finished 3rd at the MHSAA D1 State meet last year with a 2:01.78. Maddie Luther, a Saline Junior, took the 200 free with a 1:48.11. Luther went 1:48.34 to win state last year.

Another notable performance came from Hudsonville High School Sophomore Claire Tuttle in the 100 breast. Tuttle won the event in 1:02.80, a time which would be just outside the all-time top 10. More notable than that however is that her time is only a little over 2 seconds off Miranda Tucker‘s state record of 1:00.56. She is only a Sophomore, so keep an eye out for her as she could potentially challenge Tucker’s record in the future.

The MISCA meet is an annual mid-season meet that is treated similarly to college mid-season meets. The teams rest for it and suit up, although most swimmers only fully taper for it if they are trying to get a state qualifying time. MHSAA allows its swimmers to qualify for the state meet at basically any meet throughout the season, and the MISCA meet’s position in the season (about a month before the MHSAA state meets) makes it a very popular meet for teams to rest in order to qualify for state. There were about 75 teams from all 3 divisions of MHSAA swimming at the meet this year, and results can be found on MeetMobile. The MHSAA State Finals will be held for each of the 3 divisions on November 17-18.

Here is a link to the MHSAA state qualifying standards.

And here is a link to the MHSAA record book.