Season Preview: 2022-23 Men’s Swimming

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (September 28, 2022) – The Milligan University men's swimming team returns to action in 2022-23 after hoisting their second-straight Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Championship banner and posting the top national championship finish in school history last winter.

September 28, 2022

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (September 28, 2022) – The Milligan University men's swimming team returns to action in 2022-23 after hoisting their second-straight Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Championship banner and posting the top national championship finish in school history last winter.

Visual Preview

The Buffs begin their season at the King Invitational at the Kingsport Aquatics Center on Sept. 30.

2021-22 Season Review: Milligan turned in the most successful season in men's swimming to date as the Buffs placed fifth at the NAIA National Championships, Milligan's highest national team finish in history.

At the NAIA National Championships, Stephen Gilbert became Milligan's first-ever NAIA national champion in swimming as he set the NAIA's all-time record in the 400-yard individual medley (3:51.08). In total, the Buffs earned seven individual All-America honors and added five more All-American awards with top-four finishes in every relay.

At the AAC Championships, the Buffs won 13 of 18 individual and relay titles and racked up a team record 977 points on their way to a second-straight AAC championship. The Buffs set five AAC Championship records and third year head coach Spencer Scarth repeated as AAC Men's Coach of the Year.

Milligan men's swimming set 15 individual team records and all five relay records in 2021-22, re-setting every record except the 100 and 200 breaststroke. The team collected CSCAA Scholar All-America Team status in both semesters for the third consecutive year. Six swimmers were honored as CSCAA Scholar All-Americans and Wiktor Perkowski became the first CoSIDA Academic All-American in team history.

"Last year was the first year in which we really began to shift our identity as a team to one that was truly competitive across the roster and at the national level," said fourth-year head coach Spencer Scarth. "A large part of that was due to our incoming group's raw speed, but our success would not have been possible without the foundation of our team culture that we had put into place over the previous two years."

Team Captains: Ben Hawkins and Connor Harrison

Key Returners: Milligan's roster returns five swimmers who scored for the Buffs at the 2021-22 NAIA National Championships and 13 who scored at the AAC Championships.

"Although we lost some of our school record holders to graduation, we still bring back a very strong core group of guys," said Scarth. "They have already been pushed in practices...getting onto our scoring roster at conference is tougher than ever for this coming season. Top to bottom, they have been really instrumental in creating a team culture that is continuing to attract recruits from across the country."

Gilbert returns for his junior season as the defending national champion and all-time record holder in the 400 IM (3:51.08). He secured two more individual All-America honors with a third-place showing in the 200 back (1:47.09) and took fourth in the 200 IM (1:48.48). At the AAC Championships, Gilbert won conference titles in both individual medleys and the 200 back. In addition to his IM and backstroke prowess, Gilbert ranked No. 5 on the national leaderboards in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle.

Sophomore Andre Bazzana made a splash in his debut season for the Buffs as one of the NAIA's top freshmen in 2021-22. He claimed two individual All-American honors with a pair of top-four national finishes in the 200 free (1:40.07) and 200 fly (1:50.98). At the AAC Championships, he was named the AAC Men's Swimmer of the Year after taking individual titles in the 200 free, 500 free and 200 fly, with AAC Championship records in the 500 free and 200 fly.

Gilbert, Bazzana and Perkowski swam on all five of the Buffs' All-American relays at the NAIA National Championships. All five relays at the national championship meet set program records with top-four finishes. They were joined by Ben Hawkins in the 200 medley relay, Aubin Dulin in the 400 medley relay Cole Brusher in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays and Ethan McCosh in the 800 free relay.

Hawkins enters his senior year as a multi-year national qualifier in the distance freestyles in 100 breast. He reached the consolation finals in the 500 free, 1650 free and 100 breast at the 2021-22 NAIA National Championships. At the AAC Championships, he earned a pair of third-place finishes in the 500 free and 100 breast and took fourth in the 1650 free.

Brusher, a sophomore sprinter, posted an exceptional showing at the AAC Championships with personal best times and top three finishes across the board. He was the AAC runner-up in the 100 fly (50.97) and third in the 50 free (21.32) and 100 free (47.10). His performance at the AAC Championships earned him a spot on two All-American relays and a spot in the consolation finals of the 50 free at the NAIA National Championships.

McCosh recorded three top-three individual finishes in his AAC Championship debut last winter. He finished second in the 200 back (1:59.07) and third in the 100 back (52.25) and 100 fly (51.27). At the NAIA National Championships, he narrowly missed out on reaching the championship finals in the 100 fly and helped the Buffs to an All-American finish in the 800 free relay.

Sophomore Nicholas Harviel made three trips to championship finals at the AAC Championships. He finished fourth in the 200 free (1:45.08) and in the 500 free after placing first in the prelims (4:47.84) and took sixth in the 100 free (47.76). His top times in each event were season bests and NAIA provisional marks.

Junior Duncan Arnold also scored in three individual events at the AAC Championships. He finished third in the 400 IM (4:25.03), fifth in the 200 fly (2:08.04) and seventh in the 1650 (17:51.91).

Sophomore AJ Stralow set season bests across the board at the AAC Championships where he finished fourth the 400 IM (4:25.35), sixth in the 100 breast (1:01.56) and seventh in the 200 IM (2:02.45).

Senior Noah Bengston notched multiple top-five conference finishes and personal bests at the AAC Championships last winter. He took fourth in the 200 back (2;09.04), fifth in the 100 back (58.81) and eighth in the 1650 free (17:59.22).

Junior Riley Gregor set personal bests in four different events finished fourth in the 100 fly (53.70) and seventh in the 50 free (22.11) and 100 free (48.27) at the AAC Championships. McCosh, Stralow, Brusher and Gregor combined to win the AAC Championship in the 200 medley relay in 1:33.88.

Sophomore Antonio Medina swam in championship finals in the 200 fly (2:16.90) and 400 IM (4:38.09) with sixth and seventh place finishes respectively at the AAC Championships.

Senior Connor Harrison finished eighth in the 200 free (1:51.24), ninth in the 50 free (22.48) and 11th in the 100 free (49.95) with personal bests in all three at the AAC Championships.

Newcomers: Men's swimming adds a deep and talented class of 11 incoming freshmen to the mix for 2022-23 and beyond.

"This is a ridiculously talented class," said Scarth. "As our coaching staff has started to look at meet entries for the upcoming King Invite, it's been eye opening to see how much versatility this group has allowed us to have. In previous years, it was a bit more challenging to fill some events, but now we are in a position where we have a lot more flexibility to pick and choose, which we think will benefit everyone and take a bit of pressure off of our top end guys. This group of guys came into preseason ready to have fun and compete, and we look forward to what they can do this year!"

Looking at the Schedule: The Buffs will see top-notch competition from the NAIA, NCAA Division I, II and III over the course of the season before the AAC Championships at the Kingsport Aquatic Center Feb. 9-11. The NAIA National Championships will be held the first week of March at the Columbus Aquatics Center for the second straight year.

Milligan's notable dual meets include head-to-head matchups with Carson Newman (Sept. 15), St. Thomas (Dec. 14) and Cumberlands (Jan. 21). The Buffs also take on VMI in a tri-meet at Emory & Henry (Sept. 22) and compete at Liberty University's natatorium for a tri-meet against Lynchburg and Roanoke.

The Buffs' midseason meet will be the Kenyon High Performance Invite, Nov. 18-20.

"Brutal schedule, between facing the defending D3 champions, former and current AAC foes, D1s and D2s, and some of the top teams in the NAIA," said Scarth. "We're looking forward to returning to the King Invite at our conference pool up in Kingsport to refresh on that venue in a few weeks, but we truly do not have any easy meets this season. We're looking forward to heading up to Union again this year with a tri with Asbury, the last time we swam against them they won our conference meet on the women's side and were right behind us until the very end on the men's side. We have a good mix of D1/D2/D3, including some teams that finished above us at nationals last year and programs that will be competing against for national titles. Our team has been talking about our midseason meet since we first decided to make a change, and they're extremely excited for it…Kenyon has a fantastic facility and a legendary swim program!"

Last Word: "Every season is different, but we are really looking forward to the challenges ahead of us this year," said Scarth. "We will we have the strongest and deepest roster Milligan has ever had, but we will still face familiar challenges at the national level in Keiser, SCAD, Cumberlands, Olivet Naz, Lindsey Wilson and St. Thomas (FL). Our men gained a lot of valuable experience in meets last year versus top-10 programs in D2 and NAIA and at nationals, and we expect that to assist our first years make a quick adaptation to collegiate competition. Our focus will be continuing to look at what we are doing day in and day out, continuing to excel outside of the pool, and the rest will take care of itself."