Cranbrook swim and dive vies for top spot in Division 3 as state finals nears
BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Everyone wants to be a part of a successful team.
Published March 5, 2024
“It’s been a huge thing, because it’s something I always wanted since being a freshman,” Farner said. “I always wanted to be the captain and be a senior on the team. For me, the important thing was being the guy people can talk to, but I also want to hold them accountable and keep it fair across the board for everyone.”
Sidelined due to injury to start the season, AJ Farner took on a coaching role in his own right to start the season for Cranbrook.
AJ Farner was a standout freshman for Cranbrook’s state-winning team and was poised for a breakout year as a sophomore, but a broken L5 vertebrae halted his swimming activity — and gave him a new perspective of the sport.
“When you’re in the water, you’re kind of focused on yourself,” AJ Farner said. “It’s fun because when the season started in November, I got to coach lanes 1-3, which are kind of the newer guys on the team. It was really fun to teach some of the newer guys how to swim and how hard it is.”
It’s been a difficult six-month recovery, but AJ Farner has since returned to the pool and been slowly getting his feet wet the past month.
AJ Farner had a breakout performance at the Catholic League Championships March 2 at Waterford Kettering High School as AJ Farner took first in the 100 backstroke and fourth in the 200 freestyle, helping Cranbrook take first by a five-point margin over Detroit Catholic Central, the No. 3 ranked team in Division 1.
“It’s tough, because I was hoping to have a really good year,” AJ Farner said. “It’s really hard to get back in after six months and losing everything, but the team helped a lot getting back into it. It’s a slow process.”
The Cranes will look to defend their Division 3 state championship crown March 8-9 at the Holland Aquatic Center with Holland Christian, who were state champions in 2018 and 2019, and East Grand Rapids, who were back-to-back champions prior to Cranbrook’s win last year, hoping to reclaim the top spot.
Since day one of the season, the state title has been at the top of Cranbrook’s mind.
“When we started the year, coach Paul (Ellis) said the goal for this year was to defend the title,” AJ Farner said. “Everyone really rallied around that at the beginning of the year, and that was everyone’s mentality.”
Ellis said Cranbrook needed a perfect race from everyone last season to bring the title home, and the depth is looking even stronger.
From top to bottom, Cranbrook features a plethora of swimmers who can score at any given time, and Delzer said he expects that to be Cranbrook’s X-factor at the state finals.
“It’s without a doubt our depth,” Delzer said. “It’s not just our top dogs and top firepower that’s winning the meet, it’s those guys that are in the top-8 that aren’t winning events. Those guys, which we have plenty of them and most teams don’t, are pushing us forward and leading us to all of our success.”
