McGRATH RECORD CAPS STRONG SHOWING AT UST

Thursday, November 20

St. Paul, Minn.

10 a.m./5:30 p.m.

South Dakota State University

St. Thomas Invite

Braxton McGrath Butterfly Teaser 2026-02

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

11/22/2025 10:45:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Braxton McGrath lowered his own school-record time en route to victory in the 200-yard butterfly Saturday to help lead the South Dakota State men's swimming and diving team to a second-place finish in the three-day St. Thomas Invite.

A senior from Amana, Iowa, McGrath clocked a time of 1 minute, 48.09 seconds to better his previous Jackrabbit standard set two seasons ago by .11 seconds. Teammate Kolden Kringen also competed in the four-person A final, placing fourth in 1:52.48, while four other SDSU swimmers swam in the B final. Freshman Landon Schemel placed sixth overall in 1:52.19 and Bryan Wong took seventh in 1:53.24. Hayden Tellier (ninth, 1:53.84) and Owen Byrd (10^th, 1:54.81) rounded out the contingent.

SDSU also claimed a title in the final event of the meet as the 400 freestyle relay team of Colby Williams, Colt Frein, Eric Anderson and Zavier Kranz combined for a winning time of 3:00.45.

Earlier in the session, Kranz turned in a runner-up finish in the finals of the 100 freestyle with a time of 44.33 seconds to move into second place on the SDSU career leaderboard.

In the 200 breaststroke, Nik Keuser led a 2-3 Jackrabbit finish as he clocked a runner-up time of 2:00.34, followed by Cody Vertin in 2:00.65. Freshman Aidan Jackson placed ninth in 2:05.47, earning a spot in the Jackrabbit career top 10 in the process.

The Jackrabbits also had a pair of freshmen reach the A final in the 200 backstroke as Evan Schott placed third in 1:47.80 and Williams finished fourth in 1:48.11. Schott's time put him third on the SDSU career leaderboard, with Williams taking over the fourth spot.

In addition, Deshawn Campbell notched his second runner-up finish of the weekend in diving, scoring 274.65 points over six divs on the 1-meter board.

South Dakota claimed team title with 1,538.5 points, followed by the Jackrabbits in the four-team race with 1,451.

UP NEXT
SDSU will be away from competition until a Jan. 16 dual at St. Cloud State.

SATURDAY EVENT WINNERS
1-Meter Diving: Charlie Matthews, South Dakota, 284.50 points
200 Backstroke: Joaquin Contreras-Fallico, South Dakota, 1:44.20
100 Freestyle: Nick Rounds, South Dakota, :44.03
200 Breaststroke: Brock Russell, South Dakota, 1:59.51
200 Butterfly: Braxton McGrath, SDSU, 1:48.09
100 Individual Medley: Jensen Richard, St. Thomas, :51.19
400 Freestyle Relay: SDSU (Colby Williams, Colt Frein, Eric Anderson, Zavier Kranz), 3:00.45

TEAM SCORES
1. South Dakota – 1,538.5
2. South Dakota State – 1,451
3. St. Thomas – 1,045.5
4. Green Bay – 600

-GoJacks.com-