The Eastern Michigan Eagles have picked up Galesburg High School senior Wilson Burton to join their incoming freshman class.
Burton is mainly a sprint freestyler who has shown potential in sprint butterfly, as well. According to an article in The Register-Mail, Burton signed a national letter of intent (NLI) with the Eagles in late April.
“Eastern Michigan fit a lot of what I was looking for — school size, academics, cost — and the swim team is perfect,” Burton said. “I love the team, and the competitiveness is something I wanted.”
In his senior season with Galesburg, he competed at the 2017 Boys IHSA State Meet, held this year at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. There, Burton tied for 18th in the 50 free (21.45) and wound up 26th in the 100 free (48.28).
Top Times
- 50y free – 21.35
- 100y free – 47.33
- 100y fly – 52.14
- 50m free – 24.70
Burton’s potential hinges on his departure from being a multi-sport athlete– he was also a member of the Galesburg track and field team. “If it wasn’t for track and field I don’t think I would have gotten where I did in swimming,” said Burton to The Register-Mail. He is optimistic, too, about improving his swimming at EMU.
“I need to work on starts, breathing, turns and underwater. I have so much to work on for college. Once I get there, I know I will be able to take off because the college season is longer. I will keep improving definitely.”
Burton will join up with an Eagle men’s team that, this season, won its 34th-straight MAC championship title. Though he’s not quite fast enough to score at the MAC Championships (the MAC is one of the fastest mid-major conference in the NCAA Division I landscape), Burton could contribute to the 200 free relay, which finished just 5th out of 7 teams at this past season’s MAC Champs. He joins Ben Gingher and Ben Brooks, two breaststrokers, in EMU’s class of 2021.
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