SOUTH DAKOTA ST. VS ST. CLOUD STATE (MEN)
- January 16, 2026
- St. Cloud, Minn.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: SDSU Athletics
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Zavier Kranz and Cody Vertin each won two individual events to lead the South Dakota State men’s swimming and diving team to a 153-145 dual victory over St. Cloud State Friday afternoon at the Halenbeck Hall Aquatic Center.
In their first action of the new calendar year, the Jackrabbits improved to 3-1 in duals this season.
A sophomore from Watertown, Kranz posted both of his victories in freestyle events, clocking a top time of 1 minute, 43.83 seconds in the 200-yard race before winning the 100 in 46.06 seconds. He also anchored the Jackrabbits’ runner-up 400 medley and 400 freestyle relays.
Vertin, meanwhile, notched both of his wins in the second half of the meet. The junior from Brookings claimed the 200 breaststroke in 2:03.73, then led a Jackrabbit sweep of the top four spots in the 200 individual medley with a winning time of 1:54.58.
SDSU held a 133-129 advantage heading into the 200 IM, which was the final individual event of the meet. Freshmen Conner Trinidad (1:57.23) and Evan Schott (1:57.41) came in second and third, respectively, for SDSU in the 200 IM, with Kolden Kringen taking fourth in 1:57.84.
The Jackrabbits received another victory in the breaststroke events from defending Summit League champion Nik Keuser in the 100-yard race. Keuser touched the wall first in 58.08 seconds, followed by David Bosch in third place (:58.27) and Vertin in fourth (:58.59).
Keuser also was runner-up in the 200 breaststroke (2:08.87), with Kringen adding another fourth-place finish (2:14.54).
SDSU also fared well in the distance freestyle events as Jack Ellison won the 500 (4:47.05) and freshman Luke Watkins swam to victory in the 1,000-yard race (9:51.08), placing ahead of Ellison (9:56.32) by just over five seconds.
In addition, Braxton McGrath notched runner-up finishes in both the 100 (:50.77) and 200 butterfly (1:54.97), finishing behind St. Cloud State’s Lance Godard in both races. Godard also swam on two winning relays for the Huskies.
Also for St. Cloud State, James Nord swept the diving events with winning scores of 302.70 on the 1-meter board and 289.15 in the 3-meter competition.
UP NEXT
SDSU continues road action Saturday with a tri-dual against Minnesota and St. Thomas. Competition begins at 11 a.m. at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, with the Jackrabbits’ women’s squad also in action.
Courtesy: St. Cloud State Athletics
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The St. Cloud State Swim & Dive team returned to action for the first time in over a month this past weekend with a pair of duals. On Friday, the men’s team hosted South Dakota State and narrowly came up shirt, 153-145 before both teams traveled to Sioux Falls on Saturday to face Augustana. The men’s team earned a 142.5-132.5 victory over the Vikings while the women’s team lost 159-121.
In Friday’s dual against South Dakota State, the SCSU men earned nine first-place finishes, seven in individual events and two in relays. Junior Lance Godard (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) and junior Jimmy Nord (Chisago City, Minn.) each won two individual events to lead the way for the Huskies. Godard finished first in the 100-yard butterfly (50.30) and the 200-yard butterfly (1:54.01) while Nord finishes first in both the 1-meter dive (302.70) and 3-meter dive (289.15).
The men’s team had another eight first-place finishes again on Saturday to earn the victory over Augustana. The Huskies finished 1-2-3 in the 200-yard backstroke with senior Matt Pietsch (Cheyenne, Wyo.), junior Henry Belik (La Vista, Neb.) and junior Jaxon Reinke (Minot, N.D.) finishing at 1:52.23, 2:02.18 and 2:03.28, respectively.
On the women’s side, sophomore Emma Hoppman (Red Wing, Minn.) posted four top-two finishes with three first-place finishes. In individual events, Hoppman finished first in the 50-yard freestyle (24.49) and 100-yard freestyle while in relay events, she swam legs on the 200-yard medley (1:48.63) and 200-yard freestyle relay teams that both finished second. Freshman Low EE Mang (Selanger, Malaysia) and senior Izzy Koebele (Bismarck, N.D.) also post first-place finishes for the Huskies, finishing first in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:27.93) and 500-yard freestyle (5:15.49), respectively.
TEAM SCORES – MEN
Friday – South Dakota State 153, St. Cloud State 145
Saturday – St. Cloud State 142.5, Augustana 132.5
TEAM SCORES – WOMEN
Saturday – Augustana 159, St. Cloud State 121
PODIUM FINISHES (TOP-THREE)
Men (Friday)
400-Yard Medley: 1. Piotr Kowalczyk, Marcus Walker, Lance Godard, Mason Beck, 3:24.17 // 3. Dylan Nelson, Haydn Vein, Cade Rosenwald, Justin Rowles, 3:28.73
200-Yard Freestyle: 3. Matt Pietsch, 1:45.77
100-Yard Backstroke: 1. Dylan Nelson, 52.16
100-Yard Breaststroke: 2. Marcus Walker, 58.22
200-Yard Butterfly: 1. Lance Godard, 1:54.01
50-Yard Freestyle: 1. Mason Beck, 20.76 // 2. Reid Tigges, 20.92
1-Meter Dive: 1. Jimmy Nord, 302.70 // 2. Cole Piepho, 258.55
100-Yard Freestyle: 2. Reid Tigges, 46.19 // 3. Avery Morton, 47.40
200-Yard Backstroke: 1. Matt Pietsch, 1:53.06
200-Yard Breaststroke: 3. Marcus Walker, 2:08.98
500-Yard Freestyle: 2. Harrison Regan, 4:49.11
100-Yard Butterfly: 1. Lance Godard, 50.30 // 3. Cade Rosenwald, 51.32
3-Meter Dive: 1. Jimmy Nord, 289.15 // 2. Cole Piepho, 259.70
400-Yard Freestyle: 1. Reid Tigges, Lance Godard, Avery Morton, Mason Beck, 3:07.11 // 3. Justin Rowles, Piotr Kowalczyk, Matt Pietsch, Liam McGrane, 3:12.42
Men (Saturday)
1-Meter Dive: 1. Jimmy Nord, 297.75 // 3. Cole Piepho, 267.25
200-Yard Medley: 1. Piotr Kowalczyk, Marcus Walker, Lance Godard, Mason Beck, 1:31.07 // 3. Reid Tigges, Haydn Vein, Cade Rosenwald, Justin Rowles, 1:33.78
200-Yard Freestyle: 3. Matt Pietsch, 1:45.86
100-Yard Backstroke: 1. Justin Rowles, 52.21 // 3. Trevor Graham, 54.77
100-Yard Breaststroke: 2. Marcus Walker, 57.89
200-Yard Butterfly: 2. Adan Fukui, 1:57.48
50-Yard Freestyle: 2. Mason Beck, 20.65 // 3. Reid Tigges, 20.67
100-Yard Freestyle: 1. Reid Tigges, 46.24 // 3. Mason Beck, 46.86
200-Yard Backstroke: 1. Matt Pietsch, 1:52.23 // 2. Henry Belik, 2:02.18 // 3. Jaxon Reinke, 2:03.28
200-Yard Breaststroke: 2. Marcus Walker, 2:07.53
500-Yard Freestyle: 1. Adan Fukui, 4:49.39 // 3. Bernardo Mier y Teran, 4:56.39
100-Yard Butterfly: 1. Lance Godard, 50.03 // 3. Mason Kuepers, 52.23
3-Meter Dive: 2. Cole Piepho, 283.45 // 3. Jimmy Nord, 281.50
200-Yard Freestyle Relay: 1. Reid Tigges, Justin Rowles, Piotr Kowalczyk, Mason Beck, 1:21.43
Women (Saturday)
3-Meter Dive: 2. Abriella Werner, 246.60 // 3. Karlie Woodall, 246.35
200-Yard Medley: 2. Lucy Price, Hallie Drossel, Carly Salzer, Emma Hoppman, 1:48.63 // Margherita Spada, Low EE Mang, Megan Willenbring, Brooklyn Ferguson, 1:49.32
100-Yard Backstroke: 3. Margherita Spada, 1:00.64
100-Yard Breaststroke: 2. Hallie Drossel, 1:07.02
200-Yard Butterfly: 2. Ray Robeck, 2:16.58 // 3. Amelia Travis, 2:16.87
50-Yard Freestyle: 1. Emma Hoppman, 24.49 // 2. Megan Willenbring, 25.15 // 3. Brooklyn Ferguson, 25.35
100-Yard Freestyle: 1. Emma Hoppman, 54.32
200-Yard Backstroke: 3. Ella Sieber, 2:11.05
200-Yard Breaststroke: 1. Low EE Mang, 2:27.93 // 2. Claire Salzer, 2:31.18
500-Yard Freestyle: 1. Izzy Koebele, 5:15.49
100-Yard Butterfly: 2. Ella Sieber, 1:00.69
1-Meter Dive: 2. Abriella Werner, 250.80 // 3. Karlie Woodall, 222.60
200-Yard IM: 2. Kate Turner, 2:14.68 // 3. Natalie Gneiser, 2:14.75
200-Yard Freestyle Relay: 2. Emma Hoppman, Brooklyn Ferguson, Alba Silva, Megan Willenbring, 1:38.07
