JACKS CLOSE REGULAR SEASON AT COYOTE INVITE

Friday, February 2

Sioux Falls, S.D.

6 p.m. /10 a.m.

South Dakota State University

Coyote Invite

2/1/2024 8:00:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

The South Dakota State University swimming and diving teams close out regular season competition this weekend at the Coyote Invite in Sioux Falls. The two-day meet, which is hosted by the University of South Dakota, runs Friday and Saturday at the Midco Aquatic Center.

The unscored meet will feature timed finals in the swimming events, with the first session slated for 6 p.m. Friday. Swimming sessions also are scheduled for 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday, with diving events at 1 p.m. Saturday. A live stream of Friday's competition will be available for viewing through the Summit League Network and Midco Sports Plus (subscription required.

Four men's squads and seven women's teams are scheduled to be entered in the meet.

THE SCHEDULE: Following is a breakdown of events by session for the 2024 Coyote Invite:

6 p.m. Friday	10 a.m. Saturday	1 p.m. Saturday	4 p.m. Saturday
200 Freestyle Relay	200 Medley Relay	1-Meter Diving	1,650 Freestyle
500 Freestyle	100 Butterfly	3-Meter Diving	100 Ind. Medley
200 Ind. Medley	400 Ind. Medley		200 Backstroke
50 Freestyle	200 Freestyle		100 Freestyle
400 Medley Relay	100 Breaststroke		200 Breaststroke
	100 Backstroke		200 Butterfly
			400 Freestyle Relay

LAST TIME OUT: The Jackrabbits split a combined men's and women's dual against South Dakota on Jan. 20 at the DakotaDome Pool in Vermillion.

Men's Recap
South Dakota State swimmers won 10 event titles and set three venue records to close out the dual season Saturday with a 175-119 victory over South Dakota at the DakotaDome Pool.

The Jackrabbits improved to 10-4 in head-to-head competition this season

Freshman Cody Vertin won three event titles for the second dual in a row, starting with a victory in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 3.23 seconds. A Brookings native, Vertin added wins in the second half of the dual in the 200 breaststroke (2:18.49) and 200 individual medley (2:09.07). Vertin's 200 breaststroke time also set a DakotaDome Pool record in what was the final scheduled competition in the facility's history.

Sam Johnson also established a pool record in the 200 freestyle with a winning time of 1:53.63 and added a second event title in the 100 freestyle by touching the wall first in 51.87 seconds.

Jack Ellison was another two-time winner for the Jackrabbits in the distance events, posting top times in both the 400 (4:08.06) and 800 (8:38.41) freestyle races.

Eric Anderson made it an SDSU sweep in the freestyle events by winning the 50-meter race in 23.18 seconds.

Denilson Cyprianos turned in the third and final pool-record performance by notching a winning time of 2:02.10 in the 200 back. Cyprianos also placed second in the 200 freestyle in 1:55.60.

Braxton McGrath rounded out the list of event winners for the Jackrabbits with a victory in the 200 butterfly. McGrath led an SDSU sweep of the top three spots in the event with a time of 2:06.63, followed by Austin Smith (2:09.01) and Bryan Wong (2:10.02).

Women's Recap
Emma Walz was the lone event winner for the South Dakota State women's swimming and diving team in a 214-86 dual loss Saturday at in-state rival South Dakota.

With the loss, the Jackrabbits moved to 9-9 in head-to-head competition this season.

A senior from Fremont, Nebraska, Walz claimed the 100-meter backstroke in a time of 1 minute, 5.62 seconds, edging teammate Sianne Downes by .15 seconds. Lily Esmas was fifth for the Jackrabbits in 1:07.36.

Downes also was runner-up in the 200-meter backstroke, clocking in at 2:21.59. Kelsey Kocon placed third in 2:23.09 and Kaylin de Almeida took fourth in 2:24.31. Later in the meet, de Almeida contributed a second-place time of 2:26.96 in the 200 individual medley.

Freshman Gigi Hioki turned in a pair of top-three event finishes in the distance freestyle events, placing second in the 800 (9:36.99) and third in the 400 (4:41.01). Maven Moore tallied a runner-up finish in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:47.02.

Hioki and Walz teamed with Kocon and Emma Bachelder to close out the meet with a runner-up effort in the 200 freestyle relay, clocking a time of 1:49.84.

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 will spend the next two weeks in training in preparation for the 2024 Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships, which are scheduled for Feb. 21-24 at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.

-GoJacks.com-