Pullman boys have shot to win state swim title

Individual state title favorites Jake McCoy and William Miller headline a stacked Pullman boys swimming delegation heading to Federal Way, Wash., for the two-day Class 2A state meet starting Friday.

First-year Greyhounds coach Jacob Hogg predicts Pullman also will be in serious contention for the school’s first team title in the sport.

“At least projection-wise (Pullman is a favorite),” Hogg said. “You never want to get ahead of yourself because all the winning happens in the pool.”

The Hounds topped nine events in a dominant showing at the district meet Feb. 3 and qualified a dozen total swimmers for the state meet. Two alternates also are making the trip.

McCoy, a sophomore, set new school and district records with times of 1 minute, 52 seconds in the 200-yard individual medley and 50.23 in the 100 backstroke. Miller, a junior, did the same in the 100 and 200 freestyle with marks of 46.20 and 1:40.76, respectively. Each of them is the top seed in his two individual events.

In relay competition, Pullman carries the No. 1 seed in the 200 and 400 freestyle, with Miller as the anchor in each lineup and McCoy kicking off the 400. Teo Uberuaga (500 free), Troy Reed (500 free) and the Greyhounds’ 200 medley relay of McCoy, Reed, Zaine Pumphrey and Carter Frichette are all slated for additional top-five finishes.

“This is a very, very strong team with talent that goes even past the guys that didn’t make it to State,” Hogg said.

The only school aside from Pullman projected to have more than one first-place finish is Bellingham, which has top seeds in the 200 medley relay and 500 freestyle.

In addition to their excellence in the pool, the Greyhounds stand out for their work in the classroom, with McCoy and Miller having previously qualified for All-American academic honors.

“I have a feeling we’ll have a really good GPA at the end of the year,” Hogg said. “Everything works out from the leaders; you have those types of leaders for the team, all the other kids are chasing them, but not just chasing them in the pool. They want to have good grades and everything like that.”

Although he is new to his position with the swim team, Hogg has had two sons in the program in the past five years and had previous familiarity with many of its other athletes after coaching them in city league soccer and basketball. He credits the work of previous coaches Amy Ripley and Ed Davis with building a “super solid foundation for this team.” His self-described role this year has consisted largely of “motivating them, making sure they’re healthy, sticking with the program, staying out of trouble.”

“That wasn’t very hard,” he said, “because they’re good kids.”

State qualifiers

200 medley relay — Jake McCoy, Troy Reed, Zaine Pumphrey, Carter Frichette 1:43.20.

200 freestyle — William Miller 1:40.76; Ian Frye 2:03.45.

200 IM — McCoy 1:52.00; Luke Gao 2:14.37.

50 free — Frichette 23.51; Michael Campbell 23.60.

100 butterfly — Zaine Pumphrey 59.18; Frye 59.53.

100 free — Miller 46.20; Frichette 52.69.

500 free — Teo Uberuaga 4:56.93; Troy Reed 5:08.76; Pumphrey 5:18.25.

200 free relay — Frichette, Kayden Armani, Michael Campbell, Miller 1:34.32.

100 backstroke — McCoy 50.23; Gao 58.13; Jesse Tang 1:01.79.

100 breaststroke — Reed 1:04.54; Campbell 1:08.61.

400 free relay — McCoy, Pumphrey, Uberuaga, Miller 3:19.00.

Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.