JACKRABBITS TAKE ON AUGIE TO OPEN HOME SLATE

SWIMMING & DIVING: Augustana at South Dakota State

When	Friday, Oct. 10 \| 1 p.m.
Where	Marshall Center Pool \| Brookings, South Dakota
Live Video	Summit League Network powered by Midco Sports Plus Swimming Events \| Diving Events
Live Results	Meet Mobile App
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #GoJacks

The South Dakota State men's and women's swimming and diving teams open an abbreviated home schedule Friday afternoon with dual competition against Augustana.

Start time is set for 1 p.m. at the Marshall Center Pool. An alumni meet will follow as part of Hobo Week festivities. Video coverage will be available through the Summit League Network powered by Midco Sports Plus.

The Jackrabbits opened their 2025-26 seasons with losses during competition Oct. 3 in Lincoln, Nebraska. The SDSU women came up short in both ends of a tri-dual against Nebraska (L, 77-223) and Omaha (L, 83-217), while the Jackrabbit men dropped a 168-133 decision to Omaha.

PRESEASON POLLS: South Dakota State has been picked to finish third in the Summit League men's team race, with the women's squad tabbed for a fifth-place finish, according to preseason polls among the league's coaches that were announced Wednesday. The rankings match the Jackrabbits' placings at the 2025 Summit League Championships.

In the men's division, defending champion Denver was picked as the favorite by garnering six of the seven first-place votes and 36 points. South Dakota received the other first-place vote and ranked second with 30 points, followed by SDSU with 26 points and Omaha with 22 points.

St. Thomas (16), Southern Indiana (10) and Eastern Illinois (7) rounded out the men's poll.

Denver also received top billing in the women's preseason poll with six first-place votes and 36 points. South Dakota was second with 31 points and the final first-place vote, with Omaha in the third spot with 24 points. St. Thomas edged the Jackrabbits by one point, 19-18, for fourth place in the poll, with Southern Indiana (12) and Eastern Illinois (7) claiming the final two spots.

The 2026 Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships are scheduled for Feb. 18-21 in Iowa City, Iowa.

ATHLETES TO WATCH: Four Jackrabbit swimmers are listed among the Summit League Athletes to Watch in conjunction with the release of the preseason polls.

Representing the South Dakota State men's squad were junior Cody Vertin and sophomore Nik Keuser. Senior Jenna Currier and junior Gigi Hioki were the Jackrabbit representatives on the women's side.

A Brookings native, Vertin posted three top-three individual finishes at the 2025 Summit League Championships. He placed second in the 200-yard breaststroke (1:58.04) and set school records with third-place individual finishes in the 200 individual medley (1:47.92) and 400 IM (3:54.33).

Keuser, an Omaha native, won the 100-yard breaststroke at last season's Summit League Championships with an SDSU-record time of 53.74 seconds. He also placed fourth in the 200 breaststroke after establishing a school record time of 1:57.90 in the prelims.

Currier enters her senior season ranked second in program history in the 100-yard butterfly at 55.41 seconds, a mark the native of Denison, Iowa, established last November at the Tommie Invitational. She also posted team-best marks in the 50 freestyle (:23.62) and 100 backstroke (:57.43) last season.

Hioki paced the Jackrabbits in the freestyle events, winning 15 event titles during her sophomore season. Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, Hioki placed fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:49.77), seventh in the 100 free (:51.19) and ninth in the 500 free (4:57.02) at last year's Summit League Championships.

RECORD HOLDERS RETURN: Five swimmers who hold a combined 10 individual school records return to lead the Jackrabbit men during the upcoming 2025-26 season.

Seniors Eric Anderson and Jack Ellison pace SDSU in the freestyle events. A Fargo native, Anderson sat out last season due to injury, but continues to hold the Jackrabbit standards in the 50-yard freestyle (19.81 seconds) and 100 freestyle (:44.22) he set in 2023 and 2021, respectively.

Ellison, meanwhile, established school records in both the 1,000 freestyle (9 minutes, 27.05 seconds) and 1,650 freestyle (15:37.84) at the end of his sophomore season in 2024. The Omaha native also ranks second in program history in the 400 individual medley (3:57.09).

Junior Cody Vertin supplanted Ellison as the school record holder in the 400 IM at last season's Summit League Championships with a third-place finish in the event at 3:54.33. The Brookings native also earned all-Summit League honors with a runner-up finish in the 200 breaststroke (1:58.04) and a third-place effort in the 200 IM in which he set another school record with a time of 1:47.92.

Complementing Vertin in the breaststroke events is sophomore Nik Keuser, who put together a strong second half of his freshman campaign to win the 100 breaststroke title at the Summit League Championships with a school-record time of 53.47 seconds. He also set a new SDSU standard in the prelims of the 200 breaststroke (1:59.87) before settling for a fourth-place finish.

Senior Braxton McGrath will again lead the Jackrabbits in the butterfly events. He holds school records in both the 100 fly (:48.15) and 200 fly (1:48.20) and earned all-Summit League recognition last season with a third-place showing in the 200.

Sophomore Emma Ingalls was the lone Jackrabbit woman to set a school record at last season's league championships, clocking a new standard of 2:03.82 in the 200 individual medley. Ingalls also notched sixth-place finishes in both the 200 butterfly and 400 IM.

WATKINS WINS TWICE IN DEBUT: Freshman Luke Watkins swept the distance freestyle events in his collegiate debut Oct. 3 versus Omaha. The Smyrna, Georgia, native clocked a winning time of 9 minutes, 47.92 seconds to win the 1,000-yard freestyle by nearly 10 seconds, then came back later in the meet to post a top time of 4:44.54 in the 500 freestyle.

Other two-time winners for the Jackrabbit men in the dual against Omaha were Cody Vertin (200 breaststroke, 400 individual medley) and Braxton McGrath (100 butterfly, 200 butterfly).

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

Through his first eight seasons, Humphrey has guided the Jackrabbits to top-three team finishes at the Summit League Championships six times in the men's division and three times on the women's side. Both squads recorded runner-up finishes at the league meet during the pandemic-altered 2020-21 season.

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 are tentatively scheduled to continue home action Oct. 17 with the women hosting a tri-dual against Northern State and Iowa Central, while the SDSU men take on Iowa Central in dual action. Start time is set for 5 p.m. at the Marshall Center Pool.

-GoJacks.com-

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Players Mentioned

Eric Anderson

Jenna Currier

Jack Ellison

Gigi Hioki

Emma Ingalls

Nik Keuser

Braxton McGrath

Cody Vertin

Luke Watkins

Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming and Diving versus Augustana on October 10, 2025 at 1 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming and Diving versus Iowa Central CC on October 17, 2025 at TBA

Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming and Diving versus Northern State on October 17, 2025 at TBA

Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming and Diving versus Iowa State on October 23, 2025 at TBA

Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming and Diving at Coyote Extravaganza on October 31, 2025 at TBA

Upcoming Event: Women's Swimming and Diving at St. Thomas Invite on November 20, 2025 at TBA

Completed Event: Women's Swimming and Diving versus Omaha on October 3, 2025 , Loss , 83, to, 217

Completed Event: Women's Swimming and Diving at Nebraska on October 3, 2025 , Loss , 77, to, 223

Completed Event: Women's Swimming and Diving versus Yellow and Blue Intrasquad on September 26, 2025

Completed Event: Women's Swimming and Diving at National Invitational Championships on March 13, 2025 , , 1 Qualifier

Completed Event: Women's Swimming and Diving at Summit League Championships on February 19, 2025 , , 5th of 7 Teams — 325.5 Points

Completed Event: Women's Swimming and Diving at Coyote Invite on January 31, 2025 , , No Team Scores — 4 Event Titles

South Dakota State University Athletics