Five Minutes of Fame: Quinn Aho

 

Gremlins swim team sweeps Ishpeming

LOCAL SPORTS

FEB 9, 2021

EDDIE O'NEILL

Sports Writer

eoneill@mininggazette.com

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The Houghton High School swimming and diving team improved to 1-1 on the season after a big win on Feb. 2 against the Ishpeming-Neguanee team in Negaunee.

The Gremlin girls won with a score of 96-68. Boys took first with a 103-41 victory.

According to Houghton head coach Erik Johnson, the win was quite an improvement from their first meet-a loss against Marquette at home.

“I was very pleased with their effort,” he said. “The first away meet can always be a little intimidating for our new swimmers, but they really handled it well. We had a lot of kids trying events that they hadn’t done before, and even though they weren’t comfortable with them, they went after them and gave it their all.

For the Houghton girls, Eva Anderson won the 200-meter freestyle stroke. Leah Komarzec took first in the 50 and 100-meter freestyle heats. Chloe Neves won the 500-meter freestyle, and Claire Issacson took first in the 110-meter breaststroke.

“With Eva’s win, she qualified for finals in the 200 free,” Johnson said. “Chloe really stepped up and swam well in the 500 free. It was also good to see Leah qualify in both the events she swam. The girls are starting to realize the potential that they have.”

On the boys’ side, the Gremlin swimmers were equally successful. They captured first in all but one of their events. Davin Evans won the 200-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly. Archer Olson took first in the 200-meter individual medley and the 100-meter backstroke. Ty Haataja placed first in both the 50 meter and 500- meter freestyle heats. Saar Bar-Ziv won the 100-meter freestyle and Quinn Aho won the diving competition.

“Davin, Ty and Archer have been a solid group and really drive the pace in practice which carries over into meets,” said Johnson. It seems like no matter what we throw at them they enjoy the challenge and really rise to the occasion.”

He added that all his swimmers and divers have been working extremely hard in practice, and he hopes that will continue as the season progresses.

He said, “I personally can’t wait for practices and watch them step up to the challenges we put out before them.”

Second Swim Meet

  

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High School

Both Houghton High School swim teams earned victories at Ishpeming yesterday – the girls 96-68, and the boys 103-41. The boys team took first place in every event.

Individual winners for girls:
• Eva Anderson – 200 Free
• Leah Komarzec – 50 free and 100 free
• Chloe Neves – 500 free
• Claire Isaacson – 100 breaststroke

Individual winners for boys:
• Davin Evans – 200 free, 100 fly
• Archer Olson – 200 IM, 100 Back
• Ty Haataja – 50 free, 500 free
• Saar Bar-Ziv – 100 free
• Quinn Aho – Diving

The Budding Chef

 Mama was too tired to cook, so Quinn took over the kitchen. He created a marinade by following a Gordon Ramsey recipe, and then broiled himself a delicious steak.  Then he made homemade steak fries as a side dish.   Super impressive.

Getting Ready to Drive

 The boys get their drivers' licenses in January.  Not super excited about new drivers starting out on icy/snowy roads, but we will see how that all goes.  Regardless, the offspring need something to drive, and my old Impala has been waiting patiently in the yard for a few years for just this time.  Grandpa came over to get the thing running again, and the boys "helped".  Kind of. 

His First Real-Paying Job

 Quinn is now officially the organist for the 7:45 am Mass at St. Anne's Catholic church.  This is a paid, weekly gig... enough to give him spending money, but not enough to interfere with school.  PERFECT!  And he's doing a fabulous job.  I'm so proud of him!

Random Act of Kindness

Quinn has been riding his bike to the park nearly every day, and practicing his flips and dives.  There's a big sandy hill at the park in town, and it works well as a diving simulator for him.  Apparently, as he was practicing one day, an elderly lady was watching him.  Flip.  Over.  And over.  And over.  Finally, she came up to him and asked him what he was doing and why.  He told her he was practicing for the upcoming diving season.  She asked him what his goal was, and he told her "to win the U.P. Finals for diving."  She looked him in the eye and said "think bigger."  Wow.  This random stranger told Quinn that, with the determination he was showing this day, there was nothing keeping him from the Olympics.  Then she went back to her car, wrote him this note, and came back and gave it to him with a $20 bill.  The kid was suitably impressed.  Such a wonderful, random act of kindness!!

 

His First In Person Job Application

 Quinn was all dressed up for church anyway, so he stopped by to deliver his job application to the local ice cream shop.  His mother, hiding discreetly in the car snapping photos of this momentous occasion, would have hired him!!