FOUR MORE RECORDS FALL IN SUMMIT FINALE

Wednesday, February 21

Minneapolis, Minn.

10 a.m./6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Summit League Championships

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

2/24/2024 11:56:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

COMPLETE RESULTS

MINNEAPOLIS — Denilson Cyprianos and Jack Ellison each recorded top-three individual finishes and the South Dakota State men's swimming and diving team broke four school records Saturday to close out competition at the 2024 Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships contested at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

Cyprianos claimed a runner-up finish in the 200-yard backstroke, clocking a time of 1 minute, 45.64 seconds, which was good for an NCAA B-cut time. Dylan Wright of Denver won the race in 1:42.86.

Two other Jackrabbits swam in the 200 backstroke B final as Aiden Carstensen claimed the top spot and ninth place overall in 1:48.16. Senior Marcus Benson placed 14^th in 1:50.16.

Ellison opened the night by registering a third-place finish in the 1,650 freestyle in record-setting fashion. Ellison's time of 15:37.84 was nearly 13 seconds faster than the previous school record of 15:50.77 set by Chris Angerhofer in 2016. Ellison's 1,000-yard split time of 9:28.37 also set a new Jackrabbit standard previously held by Angerhofer at 9:32.05 in 2016.

A sophomore from Omaha, Ellison finished the championships with four individual school records; he previously established new marks in the 400 individual medley and 500 freestyle.

Another Jackrabbit record fell in the 200 butterfly as Braxton McGrath improved on his own record in the event by .01 seconds, clocking a time of 1:48.20 that was good for fourth place. Three of his teammates swam in the 200 butterfly B Final with Austin Smith taking ninth (1:49.63), with Luke Nichols (1:52.53) and Bryan Wong (1:52.62) placing 11^th and 12^th, respectively.

The final SDSU record to be rewritten Saturday was in the final event of the championship as the 400 freestyle relay team of Rafael Negri, Cyprianos, Carstensen and Eric Anderson erased the previous record set a year ago. SDSU's mark of 2:58.33 was good for fourth place.

Anderson also notched a fourth-place individual finish in the 100 freestyle with a time of 44.41 seconds. Sam Johnson was 12^th for the Jackrabbits in 45.10 seconds and Rafael Negri finished 13^th in 45.40 seconds.

Freshman Cody Vertin qualified for the A Final in the 200 breaststroke and placed eighth in 2:02.16.

The Jackrabbit men wrapped up the four-day competition with a fourth-place finish in the team race. Denver held off Lindenwood, 868-820, to repeat as league champion. South Dakota was third with 472 points, followed by SDSU with 427 points.

EVENT WINNERS
200 Backstroke: Dylan Wright, Denver – 1:42.86
100 Freestyle: Elliott Irwin, Lindenwood – :43.39
200 Breaststroke: Alexander Lynch, Denver – 1:56.19
200 Butterfly: Dylan Wright, Denver – 1:45.95
1,650 Freestyle: Kieran Watson, Denver – 15:01.61
400 Freestyle Relay: Lindenwood – 2:53.14

TEAM SCORES