Season Preview: 2023-24 Men’s Swimming

MILLIGAN, Tenn. (September 25, 2023) – The Milligan University men's swimming team enters the 2023-24 season after back-to-back top-five national finishes and three-straight Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) titles.

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

2022-23 Season Review: Fresh off its top season in program history, the Buffs continued their ascent as one of the premier men's swimming programs in the NAIA. Milligan finished fifth at the NAIA National Championships for the second season in a row. The Buffs established program records with 337 points at the national championship meet and 16 total All-America honors (11 individual, five relay).

The Buffs dominated at the AAC Championships, winning 15 of 18 titles and racking up a record 1,034 points at the meet. The Buffs set six AAC Championship meet records and won its third-straight conference championship. Head coach Spencer Scarth was honored as the Men's Coach of the Year for the third time.

"Really strong performances last year, throughout the year," said Scarth. "We swam phenomenally under pressure, in new and exciting environments—Kenyon with well over 50 combined team titles in Division III — as well as some familiar teams that we have seen in the past. Overall, we grew up a lot towards the end of last season and set the stage for what could be one of our best yet!"

The Buffs set a dozen program records with eight individual and four relays receiving new top standards. The swimmers were honored as a CSCAA Scholar All-America Team for both semester last year and nine student-athletes were tabbed as CSCAA Scholar-All-Americans.

Key Returners: Milligan returns virtually its entire squad from the record-breaking 2022-23 season. The Buffs welcome back nine national championship scorers and all 18 scorers from last year's conference championship meet.

"The numbers speak for themselves," said Scarth. "Every member of our 18-man scoring team returns this season, many with multiple seasons of eligibility left, and seven of our 13 at nationals were first years. We will lean on these guys and their experiences to help our newcomers make the transition to competing at a high-level collegiate environment."

Senior Stephen Gilbert enters his senior season as Milligan's most accomplished swimmer in team history. He claimed the program's first individual national championship in the 400-yard individual medley in a NAIA national record time of 3:51.08 in 2022 and is an eight-time individual All-American. Last winter, Gilbert was the national runner-up in the 400 IM by 0.09 second and placed fourth in the 200-yard butterfly. A 15-time relay All-American, Gilbert swam on all five of the Buffs' All-American relay units at the NAIA National Championships. At the AAC Championships, Gilbert took home conference titles in the 200 IM, 200-yard backstroke and 200 fly.

Sophomore Caleb Fry was the Buffs' top scorer at the NAIA National Championships with 46 points. Fry earned All-America honors in three individual events with top-five finishes in each. He placed third in the 50-yard freestyle (20.28), fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke (54.69) and fourth in the 200 breast (2:00.43) at the national championship meet and was a four-time relay All-American.

Sophomore Peter Gilbert accumulated 37 points at the NAIA National Championships via three individual All-American swims. Peter Gilbert finished sixth in the 500 freestyle (4:35.02) and the 1650 freestyle (15:59.07), placed eighth in the 400 IM (4:04.72) and swam on Milligan's All-American 800-yard freestyle relay. He was honored as the AAC Swimmer of the Year and AAC Freshman of the Year after winning conference titles in the 500 free, 1650 free and 400 IM, setting conference championship records in both distance freestyle events.

Junior Andre Bazzana earned All-American honors in the 200 fly with a seventh-place finish (1:51.76) and reached the consolation final in the 200 free. He swam on four of Milligan's All-American relays and took home the AAC title in the 200 free. Bazzana became the second student-athlete in program history to receive Academic All-America honors from College Sports Communicators (CSC) following the conclusion of the season.

Sophomore Jacob Miller earned All-America honors in the 1650 free at the NAIA National Championships with a time of 16:15.56. He scored in the 500 free in the consolation finals and narrowly missed a spot in the consolation finals in the 400 IM. Miller was a three-time AAC runner-up in the 500 free, 1650 free and 400 IM.

Graduate student Ben Hawkins earned individual All-America honors for the second time in his career last winter as he placed seventh in the 200 breast (2:04.60) at the NAIA National Championships. He scored at the national championship meet by reaching the consolation final in the 100 breast. Hawkins took home the conference crown in the 200 breast and was the runner-up in the 200 IM.

Junior Ethan McCosh qualified for the NAIA National Championships in the 100 back, 100 fly and 200 fly. He scored for the Buffs with a 10th-place finish in the 100 fly (59.54) and swam on Milligan's All-American 400-yard medley relay.

Sophomore RJ Brumit battled through injury to enjoy a breakout performance at the AAC Championships and score at the NAIA National Championships. Brumit won conference titles in the 100 fly and 100 back scored in the 100 back and 100 fly at the national championship meet. Brumit earned All-America honors as a member of both of Milligan's medley relays at the NAIA National Championships.

Sophomore Jack Allen qualified for the NAIA National Championships in both breast strokes and in the 200 IM. He scored in the 200 breast with a 14th-place national finish after swimming a personal best time of 2:06.41 in the prelims. Allen was the conference runner-up in the 200 breast.

Junior Cole Brusher was a 2022-23 national qualifier in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly. He is a three-time relay All-American and was part of Milligan's third-place 200 free relay at the NAIA National Championships. Brusher was the AAC runner-up in the 100 fly and 100 free last season.

Junior Nicholas Harviel qualified for the NAIA National Championships in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyles. He placed third at the AAC Championships with personal best efforts in the 200 free and 500 free. He added a fourth-place conference finish in the 100 free.

Sophomore Jayden Bearden swam on Milligan's All-American 400 free and 800 free relays last winter. He qualified for the 200 free, 100 back and 200 back at the NAIA National Championships. Bearden was the conference runner-up in the 200 free and 200 back in his debut season.

Sophomore Zac Nelson was a national qualifier in the 100 free, 200 free and 100 breast as a freshman. He placed third in the 100 free, fifth in the 100 breast and ninth in the 50 free at the AAC Championships.

Sophomore Ben Tomberlin earned a pair of third-place finishes in the 100 back and 200 back at the AAC Championships and finished fourth in the 200 IM.

Sophomore Adam Bengtson placed fourth at the conference meet in the 100 back, 200 back and 1650 freestyle.

Sophomore Spencer Hall swam to a third-place finish in the 100 fly at the AAC Championships. He added top-eight finishes in the 50 free and 100 free at the conference meet.

Junior AJ Stralow made championship finals at the conference championship meet in the 100 breast, 200 breast and 200 IM. His top finish was a fourth-place showing in the 200 breast.

Sophomore Michael Cellucci finished fifth in the 500 free and 1650 at the AAC Championships.

Junior Antonio Medina scored in three events at the conference championship. He was fourth in the 400 IM, eighth in the 1650 free and 13th in the 500 free.

Newcomers: Milligan adds a seven-man incoming class for the 2023-24 season.

"Yet another deep, well-rounded class," said Scarth. "Seven guys from seven different states or countries. This class adds a lot of high academic guys that have the capacity to get to nationals and score. They will certainly make getting on the scoring team at conference more challenging, but that will only make the rest of our team even stronger!"

Colin Burnette I Barracuda Swim Club I Johnson City, TN
Nate Halloran I YCSC Mudcats I Lexington, SC
Paxton Smith I Dolphin Aquatics I Laguna Niguel, CA
Hudson Trammell I Greater Pensacola Aquatic Club I Milton, FL
Sergio Tudor I El Valle I Madrid, Spain
John Cox I Lees-McRae College / STAR Aquatics I Sparta, NC
Simon Popelka I XBS Swimming I Bratislava, Slovakia

Looking at the Schedule: The Buffs will see several high-level competition against NCAA Division I, II and III and NAIA teams over the course of the season prior to the AAC Championships at the Kingsport Aquatic Center Feb. 8-10. The NAIA National Championships return to the Columbus Aquatic Center for the third-straight season March 6-9.

The Buffs have several high-profile duals against NCAA Division I Gardner Webb (Sept. 21), NCAA Division II Carson-Newman (Nov. 10) and NAIA powerhouse Cumberlands (Jan. 20).

The Buffs start the season at the Kingsport Aquatic Center with the King Invitational on Sept. 29-30. The Buffs head to South Carolina for their midseason meet, the Gamecock Invitational, Nov. 17-19.

Milligan will compete at the CSCAA Open Water Nationals for the second time in the last three seasons. This year the event will be held at Biscayne Bay in Florida on Dec. 17.

"I say this every year, but yet again, this will be the hardest schedule yet," said Scarth. "The King Invite will segway us well into our competitive phase, and will be a good refresher on our conference location. We are looking forward to a few new meets this season—DI Gardner Webb, a host of DIs at the Gamecock Invite at SEC power South Carolina, DII Lenoir Rhyne, DIII Birmingham Southern and NAIA Loyola. We're blessed to have so many unique opportunities to compete against high level programs that may not have even glanced at us a few years ago, and we are looking forward to starting our competitive phase soon!"

Last Word: "Our coaching staff has said multiple times over the summer and over the first few weeks of practice about how there are so many unknowns this season, in a good way!" said Scarth. "We're in a position where multiple relay spots in all five relays are far from set in stone because of the depth we now have. There is also the unknown of going into a very different schedule this season, but we are looking forward to new challenges in new locations. We know that the teams in the mix with us at the top of the NAIA are tough to overcome, but we're going to give it everything we can to see if we can set some more history this season."