Hawk Talk: Joy Bunting, Swimming and Diving

Parents are Doug and Sherry Bunting... Sister, Tonya, played tennis at the University of Northern Colorado... A business major... Hopes to pursue a career in international business to travel the world.

So you have a sugar glider… why?

I don’t know. Five years ago this guy had one at the pet store and he was telling my dad and I about it and I really liked it… it’s like a squirrel - it’s pretty cool to have a squirrel, right? So I researched it and bought one, Phoebe, and then I bought Phelix so I had a male and female. I bred them and got 4 or 5 litters.

Hypothetically, if Phelix and Phoebe were to have had octuplets, what would their names be?

Well, I would stick with the PH theme. Phelip, Phelice, Phannie Phickle, Pheces, Phog, Phancy, Phabulous… those are pretty good. Though I don’t think Pheces will like his name, he is going to be the runt of the bunch.

How does it feel to be a Jayrock champion

It feels fantastic. It was pretty amazing to hear them say ‘swimming and diving’. The trophy is in our locker room – right next to the Jayhawk that is made out of tires. We got it at a team scavenger hunt.

What was it like to win after having some really hard years of not getting second?

Well I am only a sophomore, but I know the history. It was an amazing accomplishment, though the track geniuses of the past are gone. I didn’t see the track performance this year, we were back stage. I heard theirs was good, but obviously ours was better.

So you are from Greeley Colorado. Can you talk about the smell of Greeley for a little bit?

The smell of Greeley, my mom would say is a fresh smell – which I guess it kind of is. Dead cattle and manure is pretty fresh. But, it is not that bad sometimes, but most of the time it is pretty rank.

On a scale of Nicolas Cage movies, let’s say that Lawrence smells like Con-air. What does Greeley smell like?

Well. It smells like poop. Cow poop. Is that a Nicolas Cage movie?

What was it like to transition from club swimming to college swimming?

It was a huge jump to go from club to college swimming. College is on a whole different level, there is a lot of new stuff and a lot better competition.

What has been the highlight?

Big 12’s last week. We all swam really fast and we were really motivated. It is fun to be a part of swimming right now because the sport is getting so fast. It is really amazing.

Is it true that your parents own an ice cream shop?

Well, my grandparents started an ice cream business. Well, not an actual business, we travel to rodeos and stuff like the Greeley stampede. It is called Yoder’s homemade ice cream. My grandpa’s last name is Yoder, it is an Amish recipe. We have a trailer that he bought. It is a pretty cool trailer, not what you think of when you think of fairs. It is not carnie looking, it is legit! So my brother, my two cousins and I work inside of it. My grandpa bought a hit and miss john deer motor, it kicks, so when it gets going it is like put-put-put-put-POP! They used to use it back on farms to pull up water from the ground for the cattle, but we use it to make ice cream. It is on a pulley system and it turns the five gallon bucket that is surrounded another bucket of ice and salt. So that’s what I do when I go home, I make homemade ice cream! So if you come to the stampede, I’ll make you some! It’s the best ice cream, I am going to try to make it here with an ice cream maker sometime soon.

Swimming and diving has won the Jayhawk Champs competition for three years in a row. It has usually been between men’s basketball, swimming, football, and volleyball. This year, volleyball is ahead of you right now. Is swimming and diving going to step up down the stretch to make it four in a row?

We’re going to pull it out in the end. We have some stuff up our sleeve that we have already talked about. I don’t know what volleyball has going on, but we are ready to take it again. Four time champs.

You talked about how fast everyone is swimming right now. On that note, would you rather have your skin be made out of a Speedo LZR suit, or be able to breathe under water and have gills on your neck.

Breathe under water. Then you wouldn’t have to wear a scuba tank to go scuba diving.

But you would have gills on your neck.

It would be alright. I already have a scar that kind of looks like gills. I could always wear a scarf to cover them up. Or I could sport them, I mean I would have gills and no one else would!