SDSU-USD RIVALRY SATURDAY BEGINS IN THE POOL

1/19/2024 4:48:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

South Dakota State at South Dakota

When	10 a.m. Saturday
Where	DakotaDome \| Vermillion, South Dakota
Live Video	Summit League Network (subscription required)
Live Results	Meet Mobile
Meet Notes	See Below \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

The South Dakota and South Dakota State swimming and diving teams will kick off a day full of competition between the in-state rivals Saturday with both men's and women's squads competing in dual action.

Competition is slated for a 10 a.m. start at the DakotaDome Pool in Vermillion. The meet will be available for viewing through the Summit League Network and Midco Sports Plus (subscription required).

Unlike the men's and women's basketball games between the Coyotes and Jackrabbits later in the day, Saturday's swimming and diving competition will not be a part of the Interstate Series. The points from swimming and diving competition will be up for grabs at the Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships next month in Minneapolis.

The Jackrabbit men enter Saturday's dual with a 9-4 record in head-to-head competition this season, including a pair of victories (126-89 and 129-88) over USD as part of the Coyote Extravaganza Nov. 3-4 in Sioux Falls. SDSU fell to St. Cloud State, 155.5-142.5, to kick off the new calendar year on Jan. 12.

SDSU brings a 9-8 record in women's head-to-head competition into Saturday's matchup. The Jackrabbits are 0-2 against USD so far this season, dropping 138-85 and 130-93 decisions at the Coyote Extravaganza. Saturday's dual marks the first competition of the new calendar year for the SDSU women.

LAST TIME OUT: Freshman Cody Vertin was a three-time winner for South Dakota State, but St. Cloud State used its depth in a few other events to clip the Jackrabbits, 155.5-142.5 in a men's swimming and diving dual Jan. 12 at the Halenbeck Hall Aquatic Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

A Brookings native, Vertin swept the breaststroke events, clocking winning times of 57.52 seconds in the 100-yard race and 2 minutes, 5.36 seconds in the 200. He completed his trifecta with a top time of 1:54.97 in the 200 individual medley.

Two other Jackrabbits were two-time winners in the freestyle events. Junior Sam Johnson touched the wall first in both the 100 (:46.93) and 200 (1:44.99), with sophomore Jack Ellison claiming the two longest events of the night in the 500 (4:49.97) and 1,000 (9:55.61).

Austin Smith turned in a strong meet for SDSU with a victory in the 100 butterfly (:51.13) along with runner-up efforts in both the 200 freestyle (1:46.65) and 200 IM (1:57.07).

Closing out the list of event winners for the Jackrabbits was sophomore Braxton McGrath in the 200 butterfly (1:56.17). Teammate Bryan Wong was second in 1:56.47.

St. Cloud State's Raf Hendricks was a two-time winner in the pool as he earned victories in both the 100 (:49.89) and 200 (1:48.35) backstroke events. Jimmy Nord swept the diving events for the Huskies with respective scores of 288.65 and 304.10 on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards.

The Huskies also were victorious in both the 400 freestyle (3:06.48) and 200 medley (1:32.13) relays. In addition, Reid Tigges led an SCSU sweep of the top three spots in the 50 freestyle with a winning time of 21.27 seconds.

Women's Recap
In its last action, the South Dakota State women's swimming and diving team wrapped up the fall portion of its schedule Friday with a 200-100 dual loss Dec. 1 at Summit League rival Omaha.

The Jackrabbits, who dropped to 1-3 versus Summit League squads, claimed three event titles in the meet.

Freshman Poppy Mead was the first to crack the win column by clocking a top time of 2 minutes, 12.35 seconds in the 200-yard butterfly. SDSU's other two wins were turned in by Sianne Downes in the 200 backstroke (2:05.09) and by Kaylin de Almeida in the 400 individual medley (4:41.63). Kelsey Kocon was second for the Jackrabbits in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:07.86.

Downes also posted a runner-up finish in the 100 backstroke, 57.81 seconds, with Kocon taking third in 58.21 seconds.

SDSU also notched a 2-3 finish in the 200 breaststroke with contributions from Marissa Branham (2:30.43) and Maven Moore (2:31.69).

Emma Bachelder paced the Jackrabbits in the freestyle events with runner-up showings in both the 50 (:24.67) and 100 (:53.93). Freshman Gigi Hioki added a runner-up time of 1:56.45 in the 200 freestyle.

SCHOOL RECORDS FALL: South Dakota State swimmers re-wrote the Jackrabbit record book a total of six times during competition Nov. 16-18 at the Augie Invite in Sioux Falls.

In all, the Jackrabbit men set five school records over the three-day meet and won 10 event titles en route to the team title. Sianne Downes also set a new SDSU standard in the 200-yard backstroke in the women's division.

Freshman Cody Vertin established two records for the Jackrabbit men in the 400 individual medley and the 200 breaststroke. His record time of 3 minutes, 58.54 seconds during the Friday prelims for the 400 IM eclipsed the longest-standing individual record on the SDSU record board. The previous standard of 3:59.30 by Chris Schreier had stood since 2012.

In the 200 breaststroke, Vertin clocked a time of 1:59.58 in the Saturday morning prelims to become the first Jackrabbit swimmer to go under the 2-minute mark. The Brookings native then shaved another .24 seconds off his morning time to win the event title in 1:59.34 during the evening session to further distance himself from previous record holder Wyatt Rumrill (2:00.26 in 2019).

SDSU's first two record-setting performances came in back-to-back during the finals session on the opening day of competition. Denilson Cyprianos set a new Jackrabbit mark in the 500-yard freestyle by clocking a winning time of 4 minutes, 31.63 seconds. That bettered the previous mark of 4:31.87 set by Alex Kraft last season. Cyprianos led an SDSU sweep of the top three spots and five of the top eight placings in the event.

Austin Smith then followed with a record-setting performance in the 200 individual medley, bettering his own record in the event by .12 seconds with a winning time of 1:48.06.

The final men's record to fall was the 400 freestyle relay, where the Jackrabbit quartet of Rafael Negri, Eric Anderson, Liam Murray and Sam Johnson blazed to a combined winning time of 2:58.97. The previous Jackrabbit mark of 2:59.62 set by Ben Bolinske, Pierce Oja, Tony Mikrut and Daniel Jacobson had stood since 2016.

Downes, meanwhile, trimmed 1.31 seconds off the 200 backstroke she set last season with a time of 1:59.79 during the Saturday morning prelims. A senior from Edenvale, South Africa, she fell slightly off that pace during the evening session, but still led a Jackrabbit sweep of the top three spots with a winning time of 2:00.74. Kelsey Kocon finished second in 2:02.53 and Kaylin de Almeida placed third in 2:03.20.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Four South Dakota State student-athletes have been honored so far this season as TicketSmarter Summit League Men's Peak Swimmer/Diver of the Week.

Freshman Reece Reid was the first Jackrabbit honored as he received the men's diving award Oct. 10.

The first swimmer to be recognized was senior Sianne Downes, who earned the weekly women's award Oct. 24.

Men's swimmers Jack Ellison (Nov. 7) and Denilson Cyprianos (Nov. 21) have rounded out the Jackrabbit list of league award winners.

SUMMIT PREVIEW: The South Dakota State men's swimming and diving team has been picked to finish fourth and the Jackrabbit women were tabbed fifth in the 2023-24 Summit League preseason coaches' poll, which was announced in late September.

The Jackrabbits' respective placings were the same as their finishes at last season's Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships. Denver, which claimed league team titles in both divisions during the 2022-23 campaign, was selected to repeat this season, with Lindenwood picked second on the men's side and South Dakota second in the women's division.

In addition, four SDSU student-athletes — two men and two women — were named Swimmers and Divers to Watch. Representing the Jackrabbit men were juniors Denilson Cyprianos and Austin Smith.

Cyprianos, a native of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, set a school record in the 200-yard backstroke en route to a runner-up finish at the 2023 Summit League Championships and also recorded top-10 placings in the 100 backstroke and 1,650 freestyle.

Smith, from the Woodlands, Texas, set individual school records and posted top-five finishes in the 100 individual medley, 200 IM and 100 butterfly at last season's league championships.

Highlighting the women's squad are senior backstroke swimmers Sianne Downes and Kelsey Kocon. Downes, from Edenvale, South Africa, eclipsed her own school-record marks in the 100 and 200 backstroke while placing fourth and sixth, respectively.

Kocon, a native of St. Michael, Minnesota, turned in respective fifth- and eighth-place finishes in the 100 and 200 backstroke, while adding an 11^th-place showing in the 200 individual medley.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits are scheduled to close out the regular season by competing at the Coyote Invite Feb. 2-3 at the Midco Aquatic Center in Sioux Falls.

-GoJacks.com-