McGRATH, KRANZ CLOSE SUMMIT MEET WITH MEDALS

Wednesday, February 18

Iowa City, Iowa

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

South Dakota State University

Summit League Championships

South Dakota State swimmer Braxton McGrath competes in the butterfly events.

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

2/21/2026 10:55:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Complete Results

IOWA CITY, Iowa — South Dakota State senior Braxton McGrath capped a strong weekend at the Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships by earning his second individual medal and setting another record in the 200-yard butterfly during competition at the University of Iowa's Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.

A native of nearby Amana, Iowa, McGrath began the day by leading the field in the 200 butterfly during morning preliminaries with a time of 1 minute, 48.75 seconds. In the event final Saturday night, McGrath led at the final turn but was chased down in the final few yards by Samuel Smith of Southern Indiana, who clocked a winning time of 1:47.77.

McGrath still managed to re-write his own school record in the event with his runner-up time of 1:47.98, bettering his mark of 1:48.09 set this past November. McGrath was the most decorated Jackrabbit men's competitor of the championships as he also placed third in the 100 butterfly and swam the butterfly leg of SDSU's bronze-medal and record-setting 400 medley relay on Friday.

A number of other Jackrabbits turned in strong performances in the 200 butterfly on Saturday. Sophomore Hayden Tellier again peaked at the league meet with his fourth-place time of 1:49.04 in the A final now ranks as the third-fastest mark in program history. Landon Schemel (11^th, 1:51.75), Owen Byrd (12^th, 1:51.79) and Kolden Kringen (15^th, 1:52.18) all competed in the B final.

Byrd's time of 1:51.36 in the morning prelims puts him eighth on the Jackrabbits' 200 butterfly career chart and Schemel took over No. 10 on the list with his finals time. A freshman, Byrd faced a grueling day in the pool as he also competed in the longest race of the meet, placing ninth in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 16:12.39.

Jack Ellison led the Jackrabbits in the 1,650 freestyle with a fifth-place time of 15:48.57, with another first-year swimmer, Luke Watkins, placing seventh in 15:53.11. Fellow freshman Austin Lewis finished 14^th in 16:43.59.

Zavier Kranz also earned a premium spot on the podium for the Jackrabbits with his third-place finish in the 100 freestyle. His time of 44.32 seconds shaved a hundredth of a second off his previous best, slightly improving his No. 2 mark on the SDSU career list.

Junior Cody Vertin had his attempt of making a return to the awards stand in the 200 breaststroke come up one spot short. Vertin clocked the second-fastest time in the morning prelims (1:59.40) and actually improved his time to 1:58.88 in the evening race before settling for a fourth-place showing.

Nik Keuser (ninth, 2:00.24) and Joshua Nelson (11^th, 2:04.37) represented SDSU in the 200 breaststroke B final.

Also competing in a B final for the Jackrabbits on Saturday was freshman Evan Schott, who placed 10^th in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:49.12.

The Jackrabbits wrapped up the meet with a fourth-time finish in the 400 freestyle relay as the foursome of Kranz, Keuser, Colby Williams and Jon Galles combined for a time of 3:01.19.

SDSU also finished fourth in the team standings with 458 points, matching the total of the women's squad.

MEN'S EVENT WINNERS — DAY 4
200 Backstroke: Joaquin Contreras-Fallico, South Dakota – 1:42.68
100 Freestyle: Nicholas Rounds, South Dakota – :42.98
200 Breaststroke: Brock Russell, South Dakota – 1:57.26
200 Butterfly: Samuel Smith, Southern Indiana – 1:47.77
1,650 Freestyle: Alexander Parkinson, South Dakota – 15:04.40
400 Freestyle Relay: South Dakota (Rounds, James Schreiber, Jordan Hogue, Matthew Sorbe) – 2:55.82

FINAL MEN'S TEAM STANDINGS
1. Denver – 862
2. South Dakota – 832
3. Omaha – 577.5
4. South Dakota State – 458
5. St. Thomas – 349.5
6. Southern Indiana – 275
7. Eastern Illinois – 169

-GoJacks.com-