Swim takes 9th a high-level meet

Avery Inman, Blue M Editor-in-Chief

With only two meets left before the League and State meets, every event, race, and time matters to everyone on the Manhattan High boys swim and dive team. 

Saturday’s meet in Kansas City marked the beginning of the most crucial time of their swim season. This meet was the highest level of competition the team will face before the State meet. As it was a Varsity-only meet, stakes were high for every athlete there. The team tied with Shawnee Mission South and beat Centennial League rivals Washburn Rural by 3 points. 

Even with the tough competition, MHS made themselves known. Sophomores Max Steffensmeier, Willow Graves, Ethan Blaman and Samson Staedtler took sixth place in the medley relay, with a 5-second difference between them and the first place team. Senior Mitchell Bunger placed 15th in the 200 free with a time of 1:56.82. Bunger also placed 12th in the 500 free, with a time of 5:16.47. 

“I feel like I’m hitting my stride in the season now,” Bunger said. “I’m excited to see what else I can do this season, and just to give it my all.”

Sophomore Kaiser Wymer swam a 2:00.34 200 free, placing 22nd and a 53.72 100 free, placing 20th. Graves placed sixth and 13th in the 500 free and 100 breast with times of 5:05.41 and 1:05.47 respectively. Balman placed eighth in the 100 butterfly with 56.00 and Steffensmeier placed 14th with a time of 59.80 in the 100 backstroke. Staedtler took 20th in the 50 free with a time of 23.56.

Overall the team saw many great swims from everyone. Headed into the remainder of the season, the team hopes to continue to improve individually and as a team. The biggest team goal is to claim the league title, one the boys team hasn’t held since 2009. 

“There’s a lot of kids stepping up and showing that they want to work and that they want to swim,” Bunger said. “Hopefully, everyone follows suit and we have a good performance at League. I want us to get the league title and I want us to place highly at State as well.”