Michigan Ultra Champs: McKenzie Siroky Hits Olympic Trials Cut At First Ever LCM Meet

2023 Michigan Ultra Championships 

• July 28-30, 2023
• Eastern Michigan University – Ypsilanti, MI
• LCM (50 meters)
• Results

The 2023 Michigan Ultra Championships are in the books, as the meet was hosted this past weekend at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. Club Wolverine came out on top of the team standings with a combined point total of 1970 points, while Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics took the runner-up spot with 1127 points.

Team Standings (Combined):

1. Club Wolverine – 1970
2. Michigan Lakeshore – 1127
3. Greater Kalamazoo Crocs – 908.5
4. Plymouth-Canton Cruisers – 432
5. Byron Center – 324.5

In the first ever long course meet of her career, McKenzie Siroky punched her ticket to Indianapolis next summer in the 100 breaststroke. In prelims of the event, Siroky clocked 1:10.88, with her opening 50 split coming in at 31.48. She took it out slightly slower in finals (31.70), but came back much quicker to stop the clock at 1:09.14.

Siroky participated in both swimming and hockey in high school, and had initially announced her commitment to play hockey at the University of Minnesota Duluth this coming fall. However, this past February Siroky changed her commitment to instead swim at Tennessee.

Siroky graduated this spring, but is taking a gap year to train with her high school coach in preparation for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. She will then enroll at the Tennessee for the 2024-2025 season.

Another top performance came from Greater Kalamazoo’s Liam Smith. The 15-year-old won the 2oo fly with a time of 2:02.76, marking a new personal best by almost five seconds. In addition to securing him a U.S. Open cut, Smith’s swim also took him under the Michigan Swimming record for the 15-16 age group. The previous mark stood at 2:03.00, done by Iian Mull in 1990.

Smith also captured victories in the 200 and 400 IM, going times of 2:09.66 and 4:36.01, respectively. His swim in the 200 IM marked a new personal best by three seconds, while his 400 IM was nearly five seconds faster than his best time heading into the meet.

Another standout swimmer was Jack Wilkening, who took home the high point award for the boys. Wilkening’s weekend was highlighted by the 400 medley relay, as he led off Club Wolverine’s team off with a personal best time of 54.35 in the 100 backstroke. In the individual events, Wilkening hit best times in the 50 free (23.69) and 100 free (51.44), with the 100 being one of his four individual victories.

Supernova Swim Team’s Elizabeth Eichbrecht won the high point award on the girl’s side of the meet, as she tallied a total of 110 points individually. The 15-year-old won the 100 freestyle with a best time of 57.97, which is half a second faster than the time she entered the meet with. She also dropped a few tenths in the 400 free to hit a 4:22.85 and win the event by over two seconds. Rounding out Eichbrecht’s best time performances was the 50 freestyle, where she finished 0.03 behind Amy Pan to post a 26.72.