HUTCHINSON, Kan. – With points only being awarded to the top 16 places in each event, the McPherson High Boys Swimmers struggled to break through for points on Saturday, where they finished 11th overall in the 21-team Invitational in Wichita. On Tuesday, the Pups returned to the pool, where they finished 4th behind Buhler, Maize, and Maize South with solid team performance, bringing home hardware in multiple events.
The all-MHS Medley relay team of Reid Schuckman, Cristian Garcia, Ethan Elder, and Beckett Schuckman took bronze. Head Coach Matt Cotton explained, “We’re still working on getting our MHS and SVHS squads qualified for state since we can’t swim together for post-season purposes.” In the 200 FR Relay, Schuckman and Garcia were joined by Tytus Reed and Gabe House for another 3rd place finish.
Team leaders in individual events included; Christian Garcia, who finished 2nd in the 100 Breaststroke and 4th in the 200 IM. Reid Schuckman would take silver in the 100 Freestyle, while Tytus Reed would finish 3rd in the 50 Freestyle and the 100 Butterfly, which was his first state qualifying time of the year.
Gabe House had a breakout performance on Saturday, swimming the 500 Freestyle for the first time to finish 8th, and Tuesday, he improved for a third place finish in the 500 Freestyle, along with taking 4th in the 200 Freestyle. Palmer Heskett was also a top finisher in the 500 Freestyle, finishing 6th.
The Pups will return to the pool next Thursday, February 2, for a meet in Haysville hosted by Campus, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
