Brother Rice
Swimming and Diving


        Head Coach: Mike Venos

        Assistant Coach: Jeff Valade

        Diving Coach: Jamie Boerkoel


        Seniors:
                Will Alberts
                Steve Ebelein
                Brian Heintz
                Aaron Lange     (Captain)
                Joseph Malone
                B.J. Nichol
                Eric Persha
                Mark Parrish    (Captain)
                Bobby Rekuc
                Chris Sanker
                Geof Sisk       (Captain)
                Justin Souyias
Brother Rice swimmers overwhelm county foes

2/7/99
By MARK SNYDER
Of The Oakland Press
ROYAL OAK - If only to keep things interesting, Mike Venos
varied the routine a little bit at Saturday's Oakland County
Swimming and Diving Championships.

Sure, his Birmingham Brother Rice boys swim team repeated as
county champion, but this year they did it with an entirely
different style.

"We're just incredibly deep," Venos said after his team trounced
the field, defeating closest finisher Rochester Adams, 305-192.
"I'm pleased for the way we swam."

From the beginning of this season, Rice intended to set the record
straight - they weren't just the five-deep outfit of last
season. Venos admits that "those five could have won the state
meet by themselves" but is determined to prove that the depth
of this team can accomplish similar results.

"It's a little different," he said,recalling last season when Rice
won nine of 12 events at the county meet. "It took (our team) a
little time to stop looking for the Matt Parrishes"

Parrish, who won two events and set two pool records in the 1998
meet, was replaced by remarkable depth. The Warriors dominated the
competition on Saturday in Royal Oak Dondero's pool as they
repeatedly scored five and six swimmers in a single event.

And it hardly took a minute to remind the county of their talent.

In the 200-yard freestyle - the meet's first individual event-
Jeff Moors cruised home with his first individual title of the
afternoon with his teammates hot on his tail. The Warriors claimed
six of the top eight places and served notice that everyone else
was swimming for second place.

"They are still so deep," Adams coach Tim Hickey said, pointing
out that the Highlanders held their own against public school
rivals Seaholm and Groves. "I'm happy with second place."

Though Rice's quiet dominance kept the team title significantly
out of reach, Hickey's team, as hard as they tried, couldn't be camouflaged.

Adams debuted their new team T shirts - brown, yellow, orange
fatigues - and got an early opportunity to show them off.

Junior Christian Vanderkaay, last season's county champ in the
200 individual medley, retained his title and added another for
good measure. In winning both the 200 IM and the 100-yard breaststroke,
Vanderkaay set meet records by lowering each time in thae record book's.

"I knew he had an outside shotat the record," Hickey said after
handing Vanderkaay his medal for swimming 1:54.74 in the 200 IM.
"He had been 1:57 in duals."

"I've never seen anyone work as hard. We can't tire him out "

Vanderkaay's achievements, though, only reinforced Venos' team philosophy
of all-around contributions.

Rice's motto - conveniently placed on their T-shirts for quick recall
- speaks to their unexpected success.

"When you've got something to prove," it reads, "there's nothing
greater than a challenge."

After Saturday, that challenge is evident as the state meet on the
horizon. With less than five weeks until March 12, combating
just five Warriors is no longer the obstacle.

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