JACKRABBITS RETURN TO THE WATER IN MINNESOTA

Friday, January 16

St. Cloud, Minn.

4 p.m.

South Dakota State University

St. Cloud State

Teaser photo featuring both a women's swimmer and men's swimmer from South Dakota State from a home meet early in the 2025-26 season.

1/15/2026 4:00:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

SWIMMING & DIVING: South Dakota State at St. Cloud State (M) & at Minnesota Tri-Dual (M/W)

When	Friday, Jan. 16 • 4 p.m. at St. Cloud State Saturday, Jan. 17 • 11 a.m. at Minnesota Tri-Dual (vs. Minnesota, St. Thomas)
Where	Friday: Halenbeck Hall \| St. Cloud, Minnesota Saturday: Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center \| Minneapolis, Minn.
Live Video	Friday: NSICNetwork.com Saturday: BigTenPlus.com
Live Results	Friday: Meet Mobile App Saturday: GopherSports.com
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #GoJacks

The South Dakota State swimming and diving teams will compete for the first time in the new calendar year with meets this weekend across the border in Minnesota.

The Jackrabbit men open the weekend with a dual meet at 4 p.m. Friday at St. Cloud State, followed by a tri-dual Saturday against Minnesota and St. Thomas. The Jackrabbit women's squad also will be in action at the tri-dual Saturday, which begins at 11 a.m. at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

SDSU has compiled a 2-1 record in men's duals this season, while the Jackrabbit women hold a 2-3 overall mark.

RECORDS FALL: Jenna Currier and Braxton McGrath each established school records in the butterfly during competition Nov. 20-22 at the St. Thomas Invite in St. Paul, Minnesota.

A senior from Denison, Iowa, Currier set a new Jackrabbit women's standard in the 100-yard butterfly with a runner-up time of 55.22 seconds during the event finals on Nov. 21. That eclipsed the previous mark of 55.36 seconds set by Elisabeth Timmer in 2022.

McGrath, a senior from Amana, Iowa, lowered his own school-record in the 200 butterfly on Nov. 22 with a winning time of 1 minute, 48.09 seconds. That bettered his previous record time set two seasons ago by .11 seconds.

EVENT WINNERS: South Dakota State swimmers combined to win eight event titles during competition at the three-day St. Thomas Invite Nov. 20-22.

In the women's division, Jenna Currier had a hand in all three Jackrabbit victories. She swept the sprint freestyle events, winning the 50 freestyle in 23.30 seconds and claiming the 100-yard race in 51.29 seconds. To close out the meet, Currier swam the leadoff leg of SDSU's winning 400 freestyle relay, teaming with Gigi Hioki, Hannah Miller and Sara Juez for a time of 3 minutes, 25.99 seconds.

On the men's side, four different SDSU swimmers earned the top spot on the podium, starting with Cody Vertin winning the 200 individual medley on the opening day of competition with a time of 1:48.79.

Day 2 of the meet saw sophomores David Bosch and Zavier Kranz claim respective titles in the 100 breaststroke (:54.68) and 200 freestyle (1:38.77).

Braxton McGrath turned in a school-record time of 1:48.09 en route to winning the 200 butterfly on the final day of competition, while the quartet of Colby Williams, Colt Frein, Eric Anderson and Kranz capped the meet by winning the 400 freestyle relay in 3:00.45.

Both Jackrabbit squads placed second out of four teams at the St. Thomas Invite. In addition, SDSU men's swimmers posted or improved on 21 top-10 times in program history, while the Jackrabbit women combined for 11 revisions on the program's top-10 leaderboards.

NEW POOL MARK: The South Dakota State men's 400 medley relay kicked off the 2025-26 home season in style by setting a Marshall Center Pool standard Oct. 10 versus Augustana.

The quartet of Colby Williams, David Bosch, Braxton McGrath and Xavier Kranz combined for a facility-record time of 3 minutes, 24.17 seconds. The previous mark of 3:24.63 was set last season in a dual against Omaha by Aiden Carstensen, Cody Vertin, McGrath and Sam Johnson.

SWIMMERS OF THE WEEK: South Dakota State swept the Summit League Kwik Star Swimming Peak Performer of the Week awards earlier this season as David Bosch was honored in the men's division and Gigi Hioki received the nod on the women's side after their performances in dual meets against Augustana on Oct. 10.

A native of Windsor, Colorado, Bosch claimed individual titles in both breaststroke events contested in SDSU's home opener, posting winning times of 26.25 seconds in the 50-yard race and 58.07 seconds in the 100. He also swam the breaststroke leg as the Jackrabbits opened the dual with a victory in the 400 medley relay (3:24.17).

The award was the first of Bosch's career and the first by a Jackrabbit men's swimmer this season.

Hioki, a junior from Honolulu, Hawaii, was a four-time winner for the Jackrabbits in their home-opening dual. She claimed individual titles in both the 100-yard (53.96 seconds) and 200 freestyle (1:55.20), and also anchored SDSU victories in both the 400 medley relay (3:58.41) and the 200 freestyle relay (1:37.07).

The award was Hioki's first of the season and third of her career.

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.

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 continue competition with a Jan. 24 dual at in-state rival South Dakota. Start time for the meet at the USD Natatorium in Vermillion is slated for 1 p.m..

-GoJacks.com-