SDSU TO MEET GOPHERS, TOMMIES IN TWIN CITIES

Friday, October 18

Minneapolis, Minn.

5 p.m.

South Dakota State University

St. Thomas

10/17/2024 9:18:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

The South Dakota State men's swimming and diving team opens its season while the women's squad returns to the pool for its second competition of the season Friday with a tri-dual Friday in Minneapolis.

The meet, which will feature the Jackrabbits in competition against both host Minnesota and Summit League rival St. Thomas, is slated for a 5 p.m. start at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on the University of Minnesota campus.

Video coverage of the competition is scheduled to be available through the Big Ten Plus streaming platform, with live stats through Meet Mobile and the following link.

The Jackrabbit women are 0-1 in duals so far this season after dropping a road decision at Iowa State last week. Minnesota has begun the season with a 3-0 mark and St. Thomas also is undefeated at 1-0.

In the men's division, Minnesota is off to a 2-0 start while St. Thomas enters the weekend with a 1-0 mark.

SDSU's scheduled home duals Saturday against Iowa Central have been postponed due to ongoing repairs at the Jackrabbits' Marshall Center Pool. No makeup date has been determined.

WOMEN'S RECAP: Sophomore Gigi Hioki was a two-time winner in the freestyle events to lead the South Dakota State women's swimming and diving team in its season-opening dual Oct. 10 at Iowa State. However, the home-standing Cyclones claimed victory in 14 other events to come away with a 201-94 victory at Beyer Pool in Ames, Iowa.

A native of Liberty Lake, Washington, Hioki clocked a winning time of 1 minute, 54.48 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle for her first victory of the day. She later won the 100 freestyle in 52.82 seconds and added a third-place finish in the 500 freestyle (5:19.25) to close out her individual program.

In the final event of the dual, Hioki teamed with Hannah Miller, Jenna Currier and Emma Schultz for a runner-up time of 3:35.22 in the 400 freestyle relay.

Freshman Emma Ingalls recorded a pair of runner-up finishes in the butterfly events with times of 2:09.24 in the 200-yard race and 58.81 seconds in the 100.

Also posting second-place efforts were sophomores Poppy Mead in the 1,000 freestyle (10:44.22) and Anna Mei Castro in 3-meter diving (234.07). Castro also was the top Jackrabbit finisher on the 1-meter board with a score of 225.82 points over six dives.

CASTRO HONORED: South Dakota State's Anna Mei Castro was honored Tuesday as the Summit League Peak Women's Diver of the Week.

A sophomore from Barcelona, Spain, Castro led the Jackrabbits' diving crew in a season-opening dual at Iowa State on Oct. 10. She was runner-up on the 3-meter board with a score of 234.07 over six dives and also placed fourth in the 1-meter competition with a score of 225.82

PRESEASON POLLS: The South Dakota State men's swimming and diving team has been picked to finish second in the 2024-25 Summit League standings and the women's squad has been tabbed to place third in preseason polls announced earlier this month.

The Jackrabbit men totaled 31 points to finish behind defending champion Denver with 36 points and six first-place votes. South Dakota received the other first-place vote and placed third in the poll, which was conducted among the league's seven head coaches.

SDSU finished fourth in the league standings a season ago.

In the women's division, SDSU collected 26 points to stand behind Denver (36 points) and South Dakota (31 points). The defending champion Pioneers received six first-place votes to take the top spot, with USD gaining the other first-place vote.

The Jackrabbits placed fifth out of eight teams at last season's league championships.

Four Jackrabbits were named swimmers and divers to watch for the upcoming season. Representing the SDSU men were Denilson Cyprianos and Reece Reid, while Gigi Hioki and Anna Mei Castro were nominated on the women's side.

Cyprianos, a graduate student from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, is the school record holder in the 200-yard backstroke (1:44.03) and was runner-up in the event at the 2024 Summit League Championships. He also recorded sixth-place individual finishes in the 200 and 500 freestyle events at the league meet.

Cyprianos went on to represent his home country in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Reid, a sophomore from Keller, Texas, placed 17^th in 3-meter diving at the 2024 Summit League Championships.

A sophomore from Liberty Lake, Washington, Hioki excelled in the freestyle events for the Jackrabbit women last season, placing seventh in both the 200 and 1,650 freestyle at the league championships.

Castro, a sophomore from Barcelona, Spain, recorded a ninth-place finish in 1-meter diving at the 2024 Summit League Championships and added a 15^th-place effort on the 3-meter board.

MEN'S SEASON PREVIEW: A pair of all-Summit League performers from a season ago, including an Olympian, and seven individual school-record holders return to lead the South Dakota State men's swimming and diving team during the 2024-25 season.

The leader of the pack is senior Denilson Cyprianos, who finished as runner-up in the 200-yard backstroke at last season's Summit League Championships. Cyprianos previously set the school record in the event with a time of 1 minute, 44.03 seconds at the 2023 league meet.

This past summer, Cyprianos became the first Jackrabbit swimmer to compete in the Summer Olympics as he represented his native Zimbabwe in the 200-meter backstroke at the Paris Games.

Cyprianos also has been a regular in the lineup in the distance freestyle events, recording sixth-place finishes in the 200- and 500-yard races at the league championships last season.

Other returning all-Summit performers in the freestyle events are senior Sam Johnson and junior Jack Ellison. Johnson turned in a runner-up finish in the 200 freestyle after posting the second-fastest mark in the event by a Jackrabbit with a time of 1:38.20 in the 2024 Summit League final.

Ellison established four school records last season, including setting a new SDSU standard in the 1,650 freestyle (15:37.84) with a third-place finish at the league championships. He also set Jackrabbit records in the 500 freestyle (4:30.74) and 400 individual medley (3:57.89) with respective fifth- and sixth-place Summit finishes.

Ellison's other record came in the 1,000 freestyle (9:27.05) at the season-ending CSCAA National Invitational Championships.

Senior Eric Anderson, the Jackrabbit record holder in both the 50 (19.81 seconds) and 100 (44.22 seconds) freestyle, is currently sidelined by injury.

Two other returning Jackrabbits who have a pair of school records to their names are senior Austin Smith and junior Braxton McGrath. Smith is perhaps the most versatile swimmer on the team as shown by his program standards in the 100 individual medley (:49.17) and 200 IM (1:48.06). Smith also stands second in program history in the 100 butterfly (:48.58), second in the 100 breaststroke (:55.40) and third in the 200 fly (1:49.63).

McGrath moved atop the record board in both butterfly events at last season's Summit League Championships, placing fourth in the 200 butterfly (1:48.20) and 10^th in the 100 fly (:48.58).

Rounding out the returning record holders are senior Rafael Negri in the 100 backstroke (:48.20) and sophomore Cody Vertin in the 200 breaststroke (1:59.34). A Brookings native, Vertin placed eighth in both the 200 breaststroke and 400 IM at the league championships. He briefly held the 400 IM school record at 3:58.54 until being passed by Ellison later in the season.

Another key contributor who return to the Jackrabbit men's squad is junior Aiden Carstensen, who is the second-fastest in program history in both the 100 (:48.86) and 200 (1:47.77) backstroke.

A LOOK AHEAD: Both the Jackrabbit men's and women's teams are scheduled to resume competition Nov. 1-2 at the St. Cloud Dual Extravaganza in Rochester, Minnesota.

-GoJacks.com-