MANKATO, Minn. – The University of Sioux Falls Women's Swimming Team, which was led by three event wins from sophomore All-American Cassie Wright, battled defending Northern State Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) champion Minnesota State before falling, 161-136 on Friday night in dual competition.

USF, which set two records, captured the swimming part of the meet by a 136-to-129 total but MSU had 32 diving points to pick up the dual victory.  The Cougars recorded eight wins in the swimming events as Wright captured titles in the 200 IM, 100 backstroke and 50 free style.

Wright set a school record with her clocking of 2:08.45 in the IM. She also won the 100 backstroke in 57.75 as the Cougars took the top three spots in the event. In the 100 backstroke, Elizabeth Spaans finished second with a clocking of 1:00.25 while sophomore Gigi Bario was third in 1:01.02.

Wright also won the 50 free in 24.24 while sophomore Jenna Krahn took third at 24.90. Wright was also a member of the 200 medley relay which finished second in 1:48.40. She was joined on the 200 medley relay by sophomore Chantal Kasch, freshman Ella Johnson and sophomore Giulia Marcon.

Johnson picked up two individual wins as she had a 2:08.32 clocking in the 200 butterfly for a pool record. She also won the 100 butterfly in 58.26.

"Overall, I felt like we swam well against MSU," said USF head swimming coach Chris Hamstra. "But more important than swimming well, we learned a lot as a team and what it takes to perform at a high level on the road. This meet and the challenges it presented will make us a better, smarter and more focused team. I am proud of how we competed," he said.

Marcon had another strong competition to open the season with a title in the 200 freestyle in 1:57.22 and a second place finish in the 100 free in 54.60.  She was also a member of the second-place 200 freestyle relay, which clocked a 1:41.06. The team included Nina Groene, Bario and Krahn.

Alex Sanchez Clark continued to excel at the longer distances with a title in the 1000 freestyle at 10:55.12. She was second in the 500 freestyle in 5:22.99.

USF's other title on the night was recorded by Groene who clocked a 5:19.23 in winning the 500 freestyle. She was second behind Sanchez-Clark in the 1000 freestyle in 10:56.37 as USF had a quality 1-2 combo in those two events.

Also for USF, Kasch was second in both the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.47 and the 200 breaststroke in 2:27.72. Krahn was second in the 200 freestyle in 1:57.83 and third in the 100 freestyle in 54.82.

The USF Women's Swimming Team will face MSU Moorhead in a dual competition on Nov. 3 in Moorhead, Minn.