Pioneers Fall Short to Saline at Intense Zeeland Invitational – A Celebration by We Love Ann Arbor Dexter

Last month, five of the top 10 teams in MHSAA Division 1 competed at the Zeeland Invitational, which included the reigning state champion, Pioneer. 

Saline secured first place with 511.5 points, narrowly surpassing Pioneer (507.5). The two SEC adversaries claimed the top two spots in the competition. Zeeland finished third with 342 points, and Holland West Ottawa followed in fourth with 206.5 points.

The medley relay team from Pioneer, consisting of Henry Baumhover, Elijah Almeida, Oleksandr Gladunin, and Brighton Han, achieved third place with a time of 1:40.13.

In the 200 freestyle, Charles Knoepp finished in second place (1:45.63), Cam Kline took third (1:46.12), and Han secured fifth place (1:48.5) for the Pioneers.

In the 200 IM, three Pioneers landed in the top eight; Edward Zhang was second (1:52.13), Gladunin placed sixth (2:07.76), and Benjamin Worden came eighth (2:10.57).

Baumhover claimed victory in the 50 freestyle for the Pioneers, clocking in at 21.62. Ryan Zhu finished in 10th place with a time of 23.67.

Almeida secured second in the butterfly with a time of 55.28. Zhu placed seventh (57.50), Alexander Heberlein was eighth (58.68), and Isak Woods came in 10th (58.78). 
 
Baumhover triumphed for the second time that day by finishing first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 46.53. Han was fourth (50.42) and Henry Colvig secured ninth place (52.30).
The Pioneers achieved a one-two finish in the 500 freestyle, with Knoepp taking first place (4:43.15) and Kline coming in second (4:48.45). Worden finished eighth with a time of 5:12.23.

In the 200 free relay, the Pioneer team composed of Zhang, Knoepp, Kline, and Baumhover finished in first place with a time of 1:26.79.

Gladunin earned 10th in the backstroke, clocking in at 58.66. 

In the breaststroke, Pioneer placed two swimmers in the top four: Zhang finished second (58.47) and Almeida took fourth (1:00.72).

The quartet from Pioneer — Knoepp, Kline, Han, and Zhang — clinched the 400 freestyle relay title with a time of 3:13.39. The team of Zhu, Woods, Henry Colvig, and Almeida secured seventh place in 3:29.07.