MHS Boys Swim and Dive wrapped up a season of success with a silver medal at the Centennial League championships on Feb. 12 and a 15th place finish at State from Feb 19-21. 42 schools competed at State, and Manhattan High was able to best 27 of them, even with only six swimmers qualifying. These swimmers were sophomores Wallace King, Koby Jones and Cameron Pfannenstiel, and juniors Jack Dunn and Ezra Kohl, and senior Collin Bunger.
“You know, all things considered, I feel pretty good,” Kohl said. “We have a very young team that has a lot of potential. So, you know, at League every year it is either Washburn or us. They’re kind of our rivals in that sense.”
Time after time again, Washburn has been the one team Manhattan has struggled to beat. Manhattan was still successful at League, putting up 421 points compared to Washburn’s 511. The Indians medaled in 11 events, three of which were first places.
“They have a lot of really good kids on the club team there,” Dunn said. “They just swim with their club and then show up for high school. They have better facilities than us, more funding, but they also just have a lot more higher skilled people.”
At League, seven Indians received All-Centennial League honors. King, Dunn, Pfannstiel, and Kohl were named first team, while Bunger, Jones and sophomore Jackson Killian were named second team and senior Collin Casebeer was named an honorable mention. MHS also qualified multiple swimmers from the League meet.
“I’m glad I made it in my solo events, and I’m glad I was able to help my team in the relays,” Kohl said. “Last year, I really only got to State because of the group of seniors that carried me in my relay. I was definitely the slowest person. But this year that changed, and the rules reversed a little bit, and although we didn’t place as high in the 200 medley relay, specifically, I’m very proud of my teammates for trying their hardest.”
MHS managed a respectable 15th place, something that the team is proud of. However, this is a decline form last season where they climbed all the way up to eighth. This is because the Indians lost a very strong senior class this offseason, and underclassmen have stepped up to fill in the void they left.
“We have a very good group of sophomores, specifically, who will be juniors next year and come into their own and obviously increase times and skill as they continue to swim in the offseason,” Kohl said.
With such a young team, senior leadership has been necessary.
“I’ve enjoyed this year a lot more than other years, mostly because being a leader is nice,” Bunger said. “Being a role model is nice. And getting to know a lot more of the team, being a bigger part of the team, is a good time.”
For Bunger, this season has stood out compared to any other in his career.
“I think the team culture is a lot better than last year, a lot more, a lot more like team building stuff and feel that we’re family,” Bunger said. “It’s a lot more sad than I thought it would be. I swam for 10 years, and you could have asked me freshman, sophomore, junior year if I was ready to swim to be over, and I would have said yes, but this year is different, and I’m kind of sad that it’s over.”
Although the season has just closed, the Indians are already looking toward next season
“Personally, I just want to, for my senior year, put the nose to the grindstone and just do the best that I can with the last season that I have,” Kohl said. “I think the same goes for the rest of the team. We just want to get better in every way we can.”