JACKRABBITS READY FOR DUALS AT OMAHA

Saturday, November 13

Omaha, Neb.

2 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Omaha

11/12/2021 4:11:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

South Dakota State Omaha (Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Duals)

When	Saturday, Nov. 13 \| 2 p.m.
Where	H&K Pool \| Omaha, Nebraska
TV	None
Results	Meet Mobile
Meet Notes	See Below \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

The South Dakota State men's and women's swimming and diving teams continue a busy month of November by traveling Saturday to Omaha for a Summit League dual meet.

Action is slated to begin at 2 p.m. at H&K Pool on the Omaha campus.

The Jackrabbit men are 5-1 in head-to-head competition this season after winning two of three matchups last weekend at the Coyote Extravaganza in Sioux Falls. SDSU downed Summit League foes St. Thomas (160-63) and South Dakota (121-99), while dropping a narrow decision to St. Cloud State (111-113). Omaha, which is fielding a men's program for the first time, is 1-0 in duals so far this season.

On the women's side, SDSU carries a 5-5 head-to-head record into the dual against the Mavericks. The Jackrabbits posted a 2-3 mark at the Coyote Extravaganza last weekend, claiming wins over St. Thomas (120-102) and Sioux Falls (129-80), while falling to host South Dakota (102-121), Northern Iowa (77-146) and St. Cloud State (110-112). Omaha enters the weekend with a 1-1 dual mark.

LAST TIME OUT: The Jackrabbit men's and women's squads combined to win a dozen event titles over two days at the Coyote Extravaganza Nov. 5-6 at the Midco Aquatic Center in Sioux Falls.

Day 1 Recap
On the opening night of competition, Elisabeth Timmer and Kelsey Kocon combined for three victories in the women's division.

A junior from Savaneta, Aruba, Timmer won for the fourth time in as many starts this season in the 50-yard freestyle by clocking a season-best time of 23.77 seconds in a field of 30 swimmers. She came back later in the session with another season-best time to win the 100 butterfly in 58.18 seconds.

Teammates Katie Pattee placed fourth in the 50 freestyle (:24.75) and Katie Drezen took sixth (:25.03).

Kocon, a sophomore from St. Michael, Minnesota, posted her victory in the 100 backstroke with another season-best time of 57.87 seconds.

On the men's side Zach Boyd swept the diving events to lead the Jackrabbits on the opening day. The reigning Summit League Diver of the Year, Boyd scored 260.65 points on the 1-meter board and tallied 306.30 points en route to winning the 3-meter competition and pacing a Jackrabbit sweep of the top three spots in the latter event. Erik Thompson finished second with 268.13 points and Spencer Fritze placed third out of 10 3-meter competitors with 263.78 points.

Fritze also placed second in 1-meter diving with 258.45 points, with Thompson taking fourth with 251.50 points.

In the swimming events, Eric Anderson was the lone Jackrabbit winner Friday in the four-team meet, racing to victory in the 100-yard freestyle in 46.46 seconds. The freshman from Fargo, North Dakota, led an SDSU contingent that claimed five of the top six spots in the event.Charles Sieglaff was third in 47.70 seconds, followed by Justin Wallar in 48.03 seconds and Rafael Negri fifth in 48.14 seconds. Sam Johnson placed sixth in 48.39 seconds.

Anderson also posted a runner-up finish in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.11 seconds, with Sieglaff (:21.89), Negri (:21.90) and Wallar (:21.91) taking the fourth through sixth spots, respectively.

Day 2 Recap
Anderson would come back the next day to again swim to victory in the 100 freestyle with a time of 46.95 seconds and was runner-up in the 50 freestyle, 21.07 seconds. He later swam the anchor leg of the Jackrabbits' winning 400 freestyle relay, teaming with Rafael Negri, Alex Kraft, and Sam Johnson for a winning time of 3:06.36.

Kraft turned in a pair of runner-up finishes in the freestyle events, placing second in both the 200 (1:44.93) and the 100 (:46.95) as he was part of a pack of Jackrabbits who claimed five of the top seven spots in the latter event. Rafael Negri was fourth in the 100, 48.41 seconds, with Charles Sieglaff sixth in 48.70 seconds and Justin Wallar seventh in 48.85 seconds.

Other second-place efforts were turned in by Marcus Benson in the 200 backstroke, 1:58.01, and Austin Smith in the 100 individual medley, 53.62 seconds.

SDSU's other individual title on the day came in 3-meter diving as Spencer Fritze led a Jackrabbit sweep of the top three spots with a winning score of 265.05 points. Zach Boyd took second with 249.40 points and Erik Thompson was third with 212.70 points.

The Jackrabbit quartet of Elisabeth Timmer, Emma Walz, Emma Bachelder and Kelsey Kocon claimed the event in 3 minutes, 32.77 seconds. The relay event capped a successful weekend for Timmer, who went 4-for-4 in individual races, including capturing both the 100 freestyle (52.06 seconds) and 200 freestyle (1:55.57) on Saturday.

Walz added a runner-up finish in the 200 backstroke, 2:05.70, while Kocon placed sixth in 2:10.04. Bachelder finished fourth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 54.54 seconds.

SUMMIT AWARDS: Three members of the South Dakota State University swimming and diving teams were honored Tuesday with TicketSmarter Summit League weekly awards. Eric Anderson and Elisabeth Timmer received Swimmer of the Week accolades, while Zach Boyd was honored as Men's Diver of the Week.

Anderson earned his award after winning the 100-yard freestyle both days of the four-team Coyote Extravaganza Nov. 5-6 in Sioux Falls. He clocked a winning time of 46.46 seconds on the opening night and 46.02 seconds the next day. In addition, Anderson swam the on the Jackrabbits' winning 400 freestyle relay.

A freshman from Fargo, North Dakota, Anderson also posted a pair of runner-up finishes in the 50 freestyle, turning in a time of 21.11 seconds on Day 1 and 21.07 seconds to close out the meet.

Boyd, a junior from Sioux Falls, swept the diving events on the opening night of the Coyote Extravaganza, winning the 1-meter competition with 260.65 points and tallying 306.30 points on the 3-meter board. On the second day of competition, Boyd placed second in 3-meter competition with a score of 249.4 points.

The reigning Summit League Diver of the Year, Boyd earned the league's weekly award for the fifth time in his career.

Timmer, meanwhile, earned her third weekly women's award of the season and sixth time in her career after going 4-for-4 in individual races and swimming on a winning relay at the six-team Coyote Extravaganza. A junior from Savaneta, Aruba, Timmer opened competition Nov. 5 by remaining unbeaten in the 50-yard freestyle this season, clocking a season-best time of 23.77 seconds to outpace a field of 30 competitors.

She later added a victory in the 100 butterfly (58.18 seconds) in the first session, then claimed both the 100 (52.06 seconds) and 200 freestyle (1 minute, 55.57 seconds) in Nov. 6 events. She closed her performance by swimming the lead leg of the victorious 400 freestyle relay.

SUMMIT LEAGUE POLLS: The South Dakota State women's swimming and diving team is picked to finish second in the 2021-22 Summit League race and the men's squad has been tabbed third, according to preseason polls announced recently.

The Jackrabbit women are coming off a second-place finish at last season's Summit League Championship and received one first-place vote in this year's survey among the league's six head coaches.

Defending champion Denver received the five other first-place votes to finish with 25 points. SDSU was second with 20 points, followed by South Dakota with 18 points. The remainder of the poll consisted of Omaha (13 points), newcomer St. Thomas (8 points) and Eastern Illinois (6 points).

In the men's division, defending champion South Dakota earned the nod in the top spot with four first-place votes and 23 points. Denver received two first-place votes en route to the second spot with 21 points, with the Jackrabbits third with 16 points.

Omaha (12), St. Thomas (10) and Eastern Illinois (8) rounded out the men's poll.

The Jackrabbit men's squad also placed second at last year's league championships.

In addition, SDSU had a pair of representatives in both divisions on the list of Summit League Swimmers and Divers to Watch. On the women's side, Elisabeth Timmer and Kelsey Kocon were honored.

Timmer, a junior from Savaneta, Aruba, was honored as the Summit League Women's Swimmer of the Week three times last season en route to earning all-league honors in the sprint freestyle events and four relays. She is the school record holder in the 50 freestyle and also is a member of the Jackrabbits' record-setting 200 freestyle relay.

Kocon, a sophomore from St. Michael, Minnesota, was a top performer in the backstroke events last season before being hampered by an injury.

Representing the Jackrabbit men were junior diver Zach Boyd and senior swimmer Alex Kraft. An Omaha native, Boyd was honored as the 2021 Summit League Men's Diver of the Year after winning conference titles on both the 1- and 3-meter boards. He also earned NCAA Zones qualifying scores in both events.

Kraft, a senior from Shakopee, Minnesota, has been a mainstay in the Jackrabbit lineup in the freestyle and breaststroke events throughout his career. He earned all-Summit League recognition as a member of the 800 freestyle relay team last season.

The 2022 Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships are slated for Feb. 16-19 in West Fargo, North Dakota.

HENDRICKS TAKES ON NEW ROLE: Former Jackrabbit swimmer Cassie Hendricks recently was promoted to assistant coach for the South Dakota State men's and women's swimming and diving teams.

A Brookings native, Hendricks served the past two seasons as a graduate assistant coach for the Jackrabbits. She also fills the role of the program's recruiting coordinator.

Hendricks earned all-Summit League honors in 2016 and recorded top-10 times during her Jackrabbit career in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 50 freestyle.

She also serves as the head coach of the Brookings Swim Club.

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

Last season, the Jackrabbits recorded runner-up finishes at the Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships in both the men's and women's divisions, continuing an upward trend in the standings. SDSU had previously finished third in the men's race in each of Humphrey's previous seasons on deck with the Jackrabbits, along with a pair of third-place performances on the women's side.

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: Both Jackrabbit men's and women's squads are slated to compete Nov. 18-20 at the Augustana Invitational in Sioux Falls. Morning sessions begin at 9:30 a.m. each day at the Midco Aquatic Center, with evening sessions slated for 6 p.m. on Thursday (Nov. 18) and 4:30 p.m. both Friday and Saturday (Nov. 19-20).

-GoJacks.com-