BULLPUP SWIMMERS TO CUT TEETH AGAINST THE BEST
- writingwithwilldur
- Nov 28, 2023
- 3 min read
Garcia, House Top Returnees
By Staff
MCPHERSON – The 2023-24 McPherson boys swim team will swim without two-thirds of last seasons state qualifiers due to graduation, so the youngsters will have to cut their varsity teeth against a schedule full of many state swimming heavyweights.
From the 2022-23 Bullpups team, in 2022-23 the Bullpups graduated Reid Schuckman, a state qualifier and Tytus Reed, who qualified for state in both the 100 Butterfly and 100 Freestyle where he finished tenth in the 100 Butterfly under Smoky Valley. Reed swam for McPherson during the season as part of a co-op with Smoky Valley high school.
The Bullpup 2023-24 roster lists 15 swimmers of which head coach Matt Cotton noted, “This is another season where we will be cutting our teeth against some of the top swimmers in the state meet after meet as we will see previous state champions Andover and Andover Central at eight of ten of our meets.”
“Last season we came up just shy of our goal of a top-three finish at the league meet as we placed fourth overall,” continued coach Cotton. “We were also just a few tenths shy of sending our relays to state. We do return a lot of talent and have guys coming into their second and third seasons who will have a lot to offer this year.”
Gabe House, another Smoky Valley co-op swimmer also qualified for state last season in 200 and 500 Freestyle where he placed thirteenth in the 500 will be the top returnee to the McPherson regular season meets.
Other top returnees according to the coaches include Cristian Garcia who finished second at the AVCTL (Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League) meet in the 100 Breaststroke. Garcia is the lone four-year senior on the team. Also returning with much varsity swim experience are third-year junior Ethan Elder and second-year sophomore Beckett Schuckman.
Coach Cotton, in his fifth season leading the program, concluded his pre-season reflections by saying, “We’ve got some strong guys who have been working hard all summer and have set some big goals for themselves and the team, so our measure of success will be less about meet wins and more about what we can do to achieve those results.”
MCPHERSON BULLPUP BOYS SWIMMING
2023-24 SEASON PREVIEW
BULLPUP COACH INFORMATION >
Head Coach = Matt Cotton – 5th Season at McPherson.
BULLPUP TEAM INFORMATION >
4th at AVCTL Meet; 2/3 of state qualifiers have graduated.
BULLPUP INDIVIDUAL INFORMATION >
Bullpups Graduated >
Tytus Reed (Smoky Valley), Reid Schuckman.
Key Bullpup Returnees >
Cristian Garcia – 2nd at AVCTL Meet in 100 Breaststroke, only 4-year senior.
Ethan Elder – 3rd year junior.
Beckett Schuckman – 2nd year sophomore.
Bullpup 2023-24 Roster >
Jonathan Antoine, Jordan Antoine, Ben Bocox, Ethan Elder, Cristian Garcia, Pau Gonzales, Gabe House (Smoky Valley), Leland Hept, Delfino Magnall, Viggo McHenry, Hunter Mendez, Manny Morales, Pollux Morris, Beckett Schuckman, Eli Spooner (Smoky Valley).
BULLPUP 2023-24 SCHEDULE >
Saturday, December 2 > at Maize Invitational
Wednesday, December 6 > at Topeka Invitational
Saturday, December 9 > at Andover
Thursday, December 14 > at Wichita Heights Invitational
Thursday, January 11 > at Salina South
Saturday, January 13 > at Andover Invitational
Saturday, January 20 > at Wichita Heights Invitational
Tuesday, January 23 > at Hutchinson Invitational
Saturday, February 10 > at AVCTL Meet in Hutchinson
Friday, February 16 > at State Meet in Topeka
Saturday, February 17 > at State Meet in Topeka
(Any questions/comments regarding this posting at www.macks-people-places.com can be sent to macks.people.places@gmail.com)
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