The Park Hill South boys’ swimming team will bring experience to the water with seven returners from the squad that earned fourth place at the 2021 Class 2 State Meet.
Park Hill South senior Derek Long will be the Panthers’ top threat as he was a key piece in their fourth place state squad last fall.
The Panthers will have a solid group coming back, but only six juniors and seniors – with three swimmers in each of those two classes – out of 25 total swimmers. While Park Hill South doesn’t have a lot of experience at the freshman level, it has a solid group of 13 total swimmers that can make it back to state, including senior Derek Long.
“Derek is our top swimmer; he took second place in 500 freestyle at state and he’s looking to win that this year,” Park Hill South swim coach Tim Busenhart said. “We lost a big one in Alec Enyeart, who was a two-year state champ, so they have to realize they can do it without having the superstar – and that’s kind of the key that a lot of people relied on him in the relays and those are big shoes to fill, but these guys are really competitive with each other and ready to go and fill in that spot in there.”
The Panthers bring back juniors Roman Lewis, Alex Briggs and Jack Francis-Cummins along with Henry Snider from last fall’s state team. Park Hill South picked up an additional upperclassman, Jacob Duckworth, who played football but switched to swimming this year.
“Our relays are pretty balanced, all four were in the top-5 last year and that’s what’s expected this year. With Jacob coming in and with the guys we have coming back on the relays, we should be able to match some of those times, if not better times than last year,” Busenhart said.
The Panthers will have four freshman divers, led by Cooper McQueen, after having none last fall. Park Hill South has expectations to make it back to state and do big things this season.
“It’s not about being their fastest early in the season, I want to see them at their fastest at the end of the year. That’s usually where our focus is at and we’re set up nicely to win another conference title and should be in the top five or six this year at state,” Busenhart said.