Varsity Swimming and Diving: Orioles dominate conference finals

MCP/OCP Sports Coverage is presented by: Baker Ford Ludington, Fresh Coast Foam, Mission Graphics, Quick-Way, Inc., Squires Chiropractic, Smith & Eddy Insurance, and VanderHaag Car Sales & Rentals.

Photos contributed by LHS Coach Susan Sniegowski

MANISTEE — The Ludington Swim and Dive Team dominated first place finishes at the Coastal Conference finals on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026 at the Paine Aquatic Center. The Orioles took first place in 10 events out of the 12 event lineup, including all three relay events.

Junior Jaden Vronko set a new LHS varsity record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 56.50 breaking the prior mark set by Tim Bussa in 2003 of 56.53.

“Jaden has been focused on bettering this record all season, it was extra special that he achieved it on his birthday,” said LHS Coach Susan Sniegowski. “Jaden will continue to work to improve this time at the state meet.”

Senior Grady Sailor achieved a Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 3 State Qualifying time in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.72.

“Grady has steadily worked throughout the season on the details necessary to swim such a fast 50 free,” Sniegowski said. “Things are really coming together for him and we look forward to the state meet in two weeks. With this qualifying time the team has qualified at least one swimmer in every swimming event for the state meet this year.”

Sophomore Sawyer Bishop won the one meter diving and will advance to the regional competition on Thursday, March 5 in Otsego. Unlike the swimming events, divers can only qualify for the state meet by advancing first to regionals and then based on score on that day, to the state finals.

Jaden Vronko

Freshman Grayson Cogle also received a regional spot with his second place finish at the conference meet.

First place finishers for Ludington included the 200 Medley Relay team of Jaden Vronko, Ian Lundberg, Dylan Sniegowski and Grady Sailor; 200 freestyle Dylan Sniegowski: 200 individual medley Ian Lundberg; 50 Freestyle Grady Sailor; diving Sawyer Bishop; 100 freestyle Grady Sailor; 500 freestyle Jaden Vronko; 200 freestyle relay team of Dylan Sniegowski, Easton Warners, Ian Lundberg, and Grady Sailor; 100 backstroke Jaden Vronko; 400 freestyle relay team of freshman Evan Hansen, junior Nolan Jorissen, freshman Easton Warners and junior Jaden Vronko.

Second place finishers for Ludington were Easton Warners in the 200 individual medley, freshman Grayson Cogle in the one meter diving, senior Dylan Sniegowski in the 100 butterfly, Senior Ian Lundberg in the 100 breaststroke.

“Easton’s 200 IM was the closest race of the day,” Coach Sniegowski said. “He just touched out Fremont’s Karston Falbe to get second place by .01. Our coaching staff have impressed upon the boys that many races come down to small margins and you have to race until your hand is on the wall. Easton did just that and came from behind to secure second place and achieved a lifetime best time by 8.65 seconds.”

Third place finishers for Ludington were Nolan Jorissen in the 200 freestyle, Sawyer Bishop in the 50 freestyle, Grayson Cogle in the 100 butterfly, Evan Hansen in the 100 freestyle, and Easton Warners in the 100 backstroke.

“Evan Hansen continues to improve steadily throughout the season, his 200 IM saw a time drop of 9.20 seconds and his 100 free .94 improvement,” said Sniegowski  “Both divers have been spending balancing their dive training with extra time swimming in every practice and saw it in their races. Sawyer dropped 2.26 seconds in the 50 freestyle and Grayson dropped 4.89 seconds in the 100 butterfly for impressive third place finishes.”

Junior Nolan Jorissen had significant time drops over the weekend in both of his individual events. He dropped 6.58 seconds in the 200 freestyle and 1.94 seconds in the 100 breaststroke leading to a fourth place finish.

Freshman Griffin Jorissen improved his 500 freestyle time by 52.62 seconds over the two day meet good for a fifth place finish. He also swam the 100 breaststroke to a season best of 1:29.63 finishing in seventh place.

“Griffin is new to the distance events this season,” said Sniegowski. “He has gone from an initial time of 9:31.28 to a 7:13.53. Being a relatively new competitive swimmer he was initially hesitant to compete at this distance. It has become a great event for him and he shows dramatic improvement with every race.”

The Ludington team ended up competing with only 10 members on Saturday.

“We knew it was going to be a tough meet because Fremont’s team has a lot more swimmers and championship meets can score out to 16^th place,” Sniegowski said.  “Our team knew going in that we did not have enough swimmers to win the meet. They did not let that knowledge impact their performance. I’m really proud of this team and how they maintained focus throughout the meet and what they have accomplished so far this season.”

The weekend prior to the meet team member Will Ryan broke his arm and could not compete.

“Will showed up for the team and cheered them on despite his injury. It was disappointing that his season came to such an abrupt end when he was having an exceptional year. Will really stepped up his focus and commitment this season and we look forward to him coming back next year.”

200 Medley Relay team of Jaden Vronko, Ian Lundberg, Dylan Sniegowski and Grady Sailor.

Freshman Kasen Carlsen swam Friday’s preliminary session and achieved three lifetime best times, one in the 50 freestyle with a 1.76 second improvement and the 100 backstroke in a .83 second improvement and the third was an over 6 second drop in 100 freestyle leg of the 400 free relay.

“Kasen swam well despite not feeling great on Friday, he took a turn for the worse on Saturday and could not compete,” Sniegowski said. “Kasen has been a great asset to the team in his freshman season.”

The small team sizes this season caused each event to only have eight or fewer swimmers. Ludington had 10 members, Manistee had four and Fremont had 17.  Fremont won the meet with a final score of 568, Ludington was second with 464 and Manistee third with 169.

“It has been really fun competing in this conference; despite the small size there are many talented swimmers on each team. We look forward to seeing both Fremont and Manistee teams at the state meet in two weeks,” said Sniegowski.

We welcome submitted photographs. Deadline is 10 p.m. the evening of the event: sports@mediagroup31.com.

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MCP/OCP Sports Coverage is presented by:

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