JACKS OPEN HOME SEASON WITH AUGIE

Friday, October 8

Brookings, S.D.

5 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Augustana

10/7/2021 1:47:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S DUALS: Augustana at South Dakota State

When	Friday, Oct. 8 \| 5 p.m.
Where	Marshall Center Pool \| Brookings, South Dakota
TV	None
Results	GoJacks.com
Meet Notes	South Dakota State \| Augustana \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

The South Dakota State University swimming and diving teams are scheduled to open the home portion of their schedules Friday afternoon by hosting Augustana University in dual action.

Competition is slated for a 5 p.m. start at the Marshall Center Pool on the SDSU campus. The dual will be the first action of the season for the Jackrabbit men's squad, while the women's team enters the week with an 0-1 dual record after falling Oct. 2 in its season opener at Nebraska.

MEN'S PREVIEW: Coming off a second-place finish at the 2021 Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships, the South Dakota State men's swimming and diving team returns a solid nucleus that includes two conference champions and a total of nine all-league performers.

"I am thrilled with where we are with the men's team," Jackrabbit head coach Doug Humphrey said. "We return a lot of guys who not only had a great impact last year, but have a lot of leadership. This is a team that has really jelled with one another and we're poised for some pretty great things."

Headlining the list of returners is reigning Summit League Men's Diver of the Year Zach Boyd. A junior from Omaha, Nebraska, Boyd became the second Jackrabbit in a row to earn the award, joining Mitch Raihle during the 2019-20 season, after winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions at the Summit League Championships last April.

Boyd, who also won the 1-meter title as a freshman, is joined on the diving boards by Erik Thompson and Spencer Fritze. Thompson also earned all-Summit League recognition with a third-place finish in 3-meter diving at the league meet, while posting a fourth-place finish on the 1-meter board.

"These guys are on a mission to do even greater things than they were able to do last year," Humphrey said.

A two-time Summit League Diver of the Week honoree last season, Fritze went on to place fifth on the 1-meter board and sixth in the 3-meter event at league meet.

Another returning Summit League individual champion for the Jackrabbits is fellow junior Max White, who claimed the 200-yard butterfly at last season's championship meet. Senior Damon Venner notched an eighth-place finish in the 200 fly.

Leading the team in the backstroke is sophomore Marcus Benson, who turned in a strong first season with the Jackrabbits last season. The Park Rapids, Minnesota, native finished third in both the 100 and 200 back at the league meet, along with placing ninth in the 200 individual medley.

Also in the IM events, Gavin Wheeler returns as the school-record holder in the 100 IM following a second-place finish at the league championships. He also was the top finisher for SDSU in the 100 breaststroke with a third-place finish and placed sixth in the 100 breaststroke.

Quenton Steffen added fifth-place finishes in both the 200 breaststroke and the 400 IM for the Jackrabbits at the 2021 Summit Championships.

In the freestyle events, the Jackrabbits return three of the quartet that finished as runners-up in the 800 freestyle relay in Parker Brown, Alex Kraft and Justin Wallar. Individually, Kraft was a finalist in the 200 freestyle (fifth), 500 free (fifth) and 100 free (eighth). Brown placed fourth in the both the 500 free and the mile.

Sophomore Charles Sieglaff is the top returning sprinter for the Jackrabbits after an eighth-place showing in the 50 free at the Summit Champinoships, along with a sixth-place finish in the 100 IM. Henry Skinner was a league finalist in the 100 free (seventh) and 100 back (fifth), while also placing ninth in the 50 free.

Among the team's newcomers, Eric Anderson and Rafael Negri are expected to bolster the Jackrabbits in the sprint freestyle events.

Humphrey said Austin Smith in the butterfly and individual medley events, along with Luke Nichols in a variety of events are also expected to be immediate contributors.

"I think every single guy on the team has that ability to be an integral part of what we're doing," Humphrey said. "There's a lot of interchangeable parts."

ANDERSON COMPETES INTERNATIONALLY: South Dakota State freshman Eric Anderson is representing the United States at the FINA?World Cup this month in Europe.

This past weekend in Berlin, Germany, Anderson finished 19th in the preliminaries of the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 22.67 seconds. He also competed in the short-course competition in the 100-meter freestyle and 50-meter butterfly.

A native of Fargo, North Dakota, Anderson is scheduled to continue competition this week in Budapest, Hungary. He was selected for Team USA?based on his performance at the Olympic Swimming Trials this past summer in Omaha, Nebraska.

WOMEN'S RECAP: Nebraska won 12 of 13 events to defeat South Dakota State, 189-54, in a season-opening women's swimming and diving dual Oct. 2 at the Devaney Center Natatorium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Elisabeth Timmer was the lone event winner for the Jackrabbits, claiming the 50-yard freestyle in 23.92 seconds. She also turned in a runner-up finish in the 100 freestyle, clocking a time of 52.24 seconds. Emma Bachelder took fourth in the 100 freestyle in 54.54 seconds.

Also recording second-place finishes for South Dakota State were Emma Walz and Samantha Frigard. Walz, from nearby Fremont, Nebraska, clocked a time of 58.43 seconds to lead a contingent of three Jackrabbits in the top five of the 100 backstroke. Sianne Downes placed third in 49.49 seconds and Mie Due placed fifth in 1 minute, 2.78 seconds.

Frigard paced the Jackrabbits in the 100 breaststroke with her runner-up time of 1:07.06.

Zoey Ahrens led South Dakota State in the distance events, placing fifth in both the 500 freestyle (5:28.97) and 1,000 freestyle (11:14.96).

In the diving events, Lincoln natives Abbi Rouse and Aleni Stoakes earch notched fourth-place finishes. Rouse placed fourth on the 1-meter board with a score of 215.63, while Stoakes took fourth in the 3-meter competition with a score of 181.57.

STOAKES HONORED: South Dakota State's Aleni Stoakes has been honored as the first TicketSmarter Summit League Women's Diver of the Week of the 2021-22
season, league officials announced.

A junior from Lincoln, Nebraska, Stoakes posted scores of 200.78 on the 1-meter board and 181.57 in 3-meter competition at a season-opening dual Oct. 2 at Nebraska.

SUMMIT LEAGUE POLLS: The South Dakota State women's swimming and diving team is picked to finish second in the 2021-22 Summit League race and the men's squad has been tabbed third, according to preseason polls announced recently.

The Jackrabbit women are coming off a second-place finish at last season's Summit League Championship and received one first-place vote in this year's survey among the league's six head coaches.

Defending champion Denver received the five other first-place votes to finish with 25 points. SDSU was second with 20 points, followed by South Dakota with 18 points. The remainder of the poll consisted of Omaha (13 points), newcomer St. Thomas (8 points) and Eastern Illinois (6 points).

In the men's division, defending champion South Dakota earned the nod in the top spot with four first-place votes and 23 points. Denver received two first-place votes en route to the second spot with 21 points, with the Jackrabbits third with 16 points. Omaha (12), St. Thomas (10) and Eastern Illinois (8) rounded out the men's poll.

The Jackrabbit men's squad also placed second at last year's league championships.

In addition, SDSU had a pair of representatives in both divisions on the list of Summit League Swimmers and Divers to Watch. On the women's side, Elisabeth Timmer and Kelsey Kocon were honored.

Timmer, a junior from Savaneta, Aruba, was honored as the Summit League Women's Swimmer of the Week three times last season en route to earning all-league honors in the sprint freestyle events and four relays. She is the school record holder in the 50 freestyle and also is a member of the Jackrabbits' record-setting 200 freestyle relay.

Kocon, a sophomore from St. Michael, Minnesota, was a top performer in the backstroke events last season before being hampered by an injury.

Representing the Jackrabbit men were junior diver Zach Boyd and senior swimmer Alex Kraft. An Omaha native, Boyd was honored as the 2021 Summit League Men's Diver of the Year after winning conference titles on both the 1- and 3-meter boards. He also earned NCAA Zones qualifying scores in both events.

Kraft, a senior from Shakopee, Minnesota, has been a mainstay in the Jackrabbit lineup in the freestyle and breaststroke events throughout his career. He earned all-Summit League recognition as a member of the 800 freestyle relay team last season.

The 2022 Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships are slated for Feb. 16-19 in West Fargo, North Dakota.

HENDRICKS TAKES ON NEW ROLE: Former Jackrabbit swimmer Cassie Hendricks recently was promoted to assistant coach for the South Dakota State men's and women's swimming and diving teams.

A Brookings native, Hendricks served the past two seasons as a graduate assistant coach for the Jackrabbits. She also fills the role of the program's recruiting coordinator.

Hendricks earned all-Summit League honors in 2016 and recorded top-10 times during her Jackrabbit career in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 50 freestyle.

She also serves as the head coach of the Brookings Swim Club.

COACH HUMPHREY: Doug Humphrey begins his fifth season as head coach of the South Dakota State men's and women's swimming and diving teams.

Last season, the Jackrabbits recorded runner-up finishes at the Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships in both the men's and women's divisions, continuing an upward trend in the standings. SDSU had previously finished third in the men's race in each of Humphrey's previous seasons on deck with the Jackrabbits, along with a pair of third-place performances on the women's side.

Prior to SDSU, Humphrey served as the head women's swimming and diving coach at Northern Iowa for five seasons. His Panther squads showed steady progression in the Missouri Valley Conference, including posting back-to-back third-place finishes at the conference championship his final two seasons in Cedar Falls.

Humphrey served as the assistant swimming coach at the University of Nebraska from 2000-12 under Olympic gold medalist Pablo Morales. He swam for the Huskers from 1991-96 and later served as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits continue competition next weekend, starting with the women's team hosting Iowa State on Friday, Oct. 15. Start time for the dual is set for 5 p.m.

Next Saturday (Oct. 16), both the SDSU men's and women's squads are slated to compete in a triangular against Iowa Central and Barton Community College (Kansas) in Fort Dodge, Iowa. That meet is slated to begin at 1 p.m.

-GoJacks.com-