JACKS MAKE SEASON DEBUT AT NEBRASKA

The South Dakota State swimming and diving groups take to the water for the primary time within the 2025-26 season with competitors Friday in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Jackrabbit girls will probably be competing in a tri-dual towards Omaha and host Nebraska, whereas the SDSU males will sq. off in a Summit League twin towards Omaha. Start time is ready for 1 p.m. on the Devaney Natatorium on the University of Nebraska campus.

South Dakota State accomplished the 2024-25 season with a 2-6 document in girls’s duals and a 4-3 mark in males’s duals earlier than a third-place end on the 2025 Summit League Championships. The Jackrabbit girls positioned fifth out of seven groups on the league meet.

MEN’S PREVIEW: Five swimmers who maintain a mixed 10 particular person college data return to guide the Jackrabbit males through the upcoming 2025-26 season.

Seniors Eric Anderson and Jack Ellison tempo SDSU within the freestyle occasions. A Fargo native, Anderson sat out final season as a result of damage, however continues to carry the Jackrabbit requirements within the 50-yard freestyle (19.81 seconds) and 100 freestyle (:44.22) he set in 2023 and 2021, respectively.

Sophomore Zavier Kranz, who posted top-five marks in each the 100 (:44.96) and 200 (1:38.96), additionally is anticipated to be a key contributor within the dash freestyle occasions once more this season.

Ellison, in the meantime, established college data in each the 1,000 freestyle (9 minutes, 27.05 seconds) and 1,650 freestyle (15:37.84) on the finish of his sophomore season in 2024. The Omaha native additionally ranks second in program historical past within the 400 particular person medley (3:57.09).

Junior Cody Vertin supplanted Ellison as the varsity document holder within the 400 IM finally season’s Summit League Championships with a third-place end within the occasion at 3:54.33. The Brookings native additionally earned all-Summit League honors with a runner-up end within the 200 breaststroke (1:58.04) and a third-place effort within the 200 IM by which he set one other college document with a time of 1:47.92.

Complementing Vertin within the breaststroke occasions are sophomores Nik Keuser and David Bosch. Keuser put collectively a powerful second half of his freshman marketing campaign to win the 100 breaststroke title on the Summit League Championships with a school-record time of 53.47 seconds. He additionally set a brand new SDSU commonplace within the prelims of the 200 breaststroke (1:59.87) earlier than settling for a fourth-place end.

Bosch took over the second spot on the SDSU profession charts within the 100 breaststroke (:55.10) and positioned sixth within the occasion on the league meet throughout his freshman marketing campaign.

Senior Braxton McGrath will once more lead the Jackrabbits within the butterfly occasions. He holds college data in each the 100 fly (:48.15) and 200 fly (1:48.20) and earned all-Summit League recognition with a third-place displaying within the 200.

Adding depth within the butterfly occasions are sophomore Hayden Tellier and senior Bryan Wong, each of whom etched their names into the SDSU profession high 10 within the 200 fly final season.

In the backstroke occasions, the Jackrabbits will probably be with out the providers of senior Aiden Carstensen to start the season. Carstensen ranks second in program historical past in each the 100 (:48.63) and 200 (1:47.77) again, however is at present sidelined as a result of damage and could also be a candidate to redshirt this season.

In Carstensen’s absence, freshmen Colby Williams and Zack Heiar could also be known as on to choose up the slack. Other freshmen anticipated to make a right away affect embody Luke Watkins within the center distance and distance freestyle occasions, in addition to Evan Schott and Owen Byrd within the particular person medley occasions.

The diving crew has undergone some re-tooling with the additions of Alaska natives Deshawn Campbell and Roman Billings. Campbell is a switch from Wyoming, whereas Billings is a freshman. Sophomore Seth Berens, who was the group’s high diver a yr in the past, additionally returns.

WOMEN’S PREVIEW: The Jackrabbit girls’s swimming and diving group will obtain an infusion of younger expertise through the 2025-26 season with the addition of 11 freshmen and a switch.

In early returns, newcomers Jessalyn Carpenter and Marissa Renaud are poised to make rapid impacts within the breaststroke and distance freestyle occasions, respectively, following robust performances at a latest intrasquad competitors. Makenzie Peter and Ava Humphrey additionally will bolster the lineup within the breaststroke occasions, whereas a crop of newcomers within the freestyle occasions that features Kaylen Torrence and Mallory Knutson are anticipated to offer depth within the freestyle occasions.

Natalie Ziebell, who beforehand competed in gymnastics at Northern Illinois, is making the transition to competing in diving at SDSU and was the group’s high performer on each the 1-meter and 3-meter boards on the intrasquad meet. She is joined on the diving crew by Annabelle Gifford and Lily Davis.

Among different returning student-athletes, senior Marissa Branham and junior Gigi Hioki each posted fourth-place finishes on the Summit League Championships to tempo the Jackrabbits in postseason competitors. Branham positioned fourth within the 200 breaststroke, whereas Hioki turned in a fourth-place effort within the 200 freestyle and likewise was a finalist within the 100 freestyle with a seventh-place displaying.

Hioki at present ranks second all-time at SDSU in each the 200 freestyle (1:49.77) and 500 freestyle (4:57.02), together with a third-place standing within the 100 freestyle (:50.94).

Also holding excessive rankings in a number of occasions is senior Jenna Currier. The native of Denison, Iowa, holds the second-fastest time in program historical past within the 100 butterfly at 55.41 seconds, whereas additionally posting top-10 marks within the dash freestyle occasions.

Sophomore Emma Ingalls was the lone Jackrabbit girl to set a college document finally season’s league championships, clocking a brand new commonplace of two:03.82 within the 200 particular person medley. Ingalls additionally notched sixth-place finishes in each the 200 butterfly and 400 IM.

Junior Poppy Mead additionally was a two-time finalist on the 2025 Summit League Championships, putting seventh in each the 200 butterfly and 1,650 freestyle.

COACH HUMPHREY: Doug Humphrey is in his ninth season as head coach of the South Dakota State males’s and girls’s swimming and diving groups. 

Through his first eight seasons, Humphrey has guided the Jackrabbits to top-three group finishes on the Summit League Championships six occasions within the males’s division and 3 times on the ladies’s aspect. Both squads recorded runner-up finishes on the league meet through the pandemic-altered 2020-21 season.

Prior to SDSU, Humphrey served as the pinnacle girls’s swimming and diving coach at Northern Iowa for 5 seasons. His Panther squads confirmed regular development within the Missouri Valley Conference, together with posting back-to-back third-place finishes on the convention championship his ultimate two seasons in Cedar Falls.

Humphrey served because the assistant swimming coach on the University of Nebraska from 2000-12 underneath 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 are scheduled to open the house portion of their schedule Oct. 10 with residence duals towards Augustana. Start time is ready for 1 p.m., with an alumni meet to comply with as a part of the Hobo Week (homecoming) celebration.