JACKS RETURN TO VERMILLION FOR COYOTE INVITE

Friday, January 30

Vermillion, S.D.

3:45 p.m./9:30 a.m.

South Dakota State University

Coyote Invite

Swim Splice Teaser 1-29-2026 featuring Jon Galles (left) and Sara Juez (right)

1/29/2026 4:00:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

SWIMMING & DIVING: South Dakota State at Coyote Invite

When	Friday-Saturday, Jan. 30-31 Friday: Diving Session at 3:45 p.m., Swimming Session at 6 p.m. Saturday: Swimming Sessions at 9:30 a.m. & 5 p.m., Diving Session at 2 p.m. Meet Schedule
Where	USD Natatorium \| Vermillion, South Dakota
Live Video	Summit League Network powered by Midco Sports Plus Friday Live Video \| Saturday Live Video
Live Results	www.SwimCloud.com
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #GoJacks

The South Dakota State men's and women's swimming and diving teams close out the regular season with two days of competition at the Coyote Invite in Vermillion.

Action in the multi-team invitational begins Friday at the USD Natatorium with diving starting at 3:45 p.m., followed by swimming events at 6 p.m. Competition concludes Saturday with swimming sessions slated for 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., with diving at 2 p.m.

Men's and women's squads from South Dakota, South Dakota State, Omaha and Augustana are scheduled to compete in the meet, along with Northern Iowa's women's squad and Iowa Central's men's team.

BACK TO USD: This weekend's competition will mark the second weekend in a row South Dakota State will have competed in Vermillion.

Last Saturday, the Jackrabbits came up short against USD in their final duals of the season. The Coyote men claimed a 200-98 victory, while the USD women scored a 188.5-110.5 decision over the Jackrabbits.

Men's Recap
Cody Vertin swept the breaststroke events and added a runner-up finish in the 400 individual medley to lead the Jackrabbit men, who ended their dual season with a 4-3 overall record.

A junior from Brookings, Vertin opened the day by winning the 100-yard breaststroke in 57.11 seconds. He followed with a winning time of 2 minutes, 3.42 seconds in the 200 breaststroke, but had his quest for a third individual victory stopped with a second-place showing in the 400 IM, clocking a time of 4:05.55.

USD's Alex Parkinson did complete a trifecta with his winning time of 4:02.58 in the 400 IM, after earlier claiming the 1,000 freestyle (9:23.24) and 500 freestyle (4:35.25).

Braxton McGrath collected SDSU's other individual event victory in the meet, claiming the 200 butterfly in 1:53.67 to lead a Jackrabbit sweep of the top three spots. Jack Ellison took second in 1:55.50 and Bryan Wong finished third in 1:55.67. McGrath later posted a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly (:49.94), while Ellison came in third in the 500 freestyle (4:41.96).

Freshman Colby Williams turned in a pair of second-place efforts in the backstroke events, clocking runner-up times of 52.06 seconds in the 100-yard race and 1:53.67 in the 200.

Eric Anderson added two top-three showings in the sprint freestyle races, notching second place in the 50 freestyle (:21.24) and third place in the 100 (:47.80). Anderson also teamed with Bryce Edens, Williams and Zavier Kranz for a runner-up finish in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:25.10.

Women's Recap
Jenna Currier and Gigi Hioki claimed victories in freestyle events and freshman Lucia Lopez added a win in the 200-yard backstroke to pace the Jackrabbit women as they closed out the dual season with a 2-6 overall record.

A senior from Denison, Iowa, Currier clocked the fastest time in the 50-yard freestyle with a mark of 24.45 seconds. She later placed second in the 100 butterfly (:58.51) and third in the 100 freestyle (:53.81).

Hioki's victory came in the 500 freestyle as she turned in a winning time of 5 minutes, 9.72 seconds. She also swam the anchor leg of the Jackrabbits' 200 freestyle relay, erasing nearly a half-second deficit to pull into a tie with the top USD quartet at 1:37.50. Mia Pendleton, Sara Juez and Currier made up the remainder of the SDSU foursome.

Lopez, meanwhile, posted a winning time of 2:08.15 in a closely contested 200 backstroke with teammate Lily Esmas taking third in 2:08.77.

Sophomore Hannah Miller notched a runner-up finishes in both the 100 breaststroke (1:06.93) and 100 freestyle (:53.77), while Marissa Branham was runner-up in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:25.55.

Fellow sophomore Emma Ingalls recorded three top-three finishes. She swam her was to second place in the 400 individual medley (4:40.70) and was third in both the 200 butterfly (2:10.93) and in her first time competing in the 200 breaststroke (2:25.72) this season.

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.

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.

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 currently ranks in the top three among Summit League swimmers in three individual events: second in the 50 freestyle (:23.30), third in the 100 freestyle (:50.98) and third in the 100 butterfly (:55.22).

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 will be in training until the Summit League Championships Feb. 18-21 in Iowa City, Iowa. Session times are set for 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on the opening day of competition, followed by prelims at 10 a.m. and event finals at 5:30 p.m. the last three days of the meet.

-GoJacks.com-