OAKLAND UNIVERSITY - Mar. 13-14, 2009 - Ogemaw Heights' Conrad Laurion and Oscoda's Ray Gaskell each had similar experiences at the state Division 3 boys swim finals at Oakland University, turning in outstanding performances but coming up just short of qualifying for the championship round.

Ogemaw's Laurion turned in a 17th-place finish in the preliminaries of the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.89, while Gaskell took 17th in the diving semifinals (232.10). The top 16 in each event qualify for the finals.

Laurion was also a state qualifier in the 100-free and took 43rd (51.65).

Diving has a first preliminary round on Friday, and Gaskell qualified for the semifinals with a 19th place finish.

Brock Jackson won the state title in the 50 with a time of 21.15 and Matt Hogan of Cranbrook-Kingswood took the 100 in 45.17. Grand Rapids West Catholic's Nick Burciaga dominated the diving competition with 471.25 points, nearly 60 points better than the second-place finisher.