SIOUX FALLS— The University of Sioux Falls Swimming Team (1-1) will look to build on a solid start to the 2018-19 season as they travel to Minnesota State Moorhead on Saturday, Nov. 3 to face the Dragons for a 1 p.m. dual meet.
 
In their last meet, USF set two records, captured the swimming part of the meet by a 136-to-129 total but the defending Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference champion Minnesota State had 32 diving points to pick up the dual victory (161-136). USF won eight individual events against MSU.
 
The Cougars, directed head coach Chris Hamstra, opened up their 2018 season by dominating the U-Mary, 164-112 at the Midco Aquatic Center in Sioux Falls. At that meet, USF won 13-of-16 events and set two school records.
 
USF, which was picked to finish fourth in the NSIC Coaches Preseason Poll, have had a solid start in their third year as a program. Through two dual competitions, USF has set four records and impressively won 21-of-32 events across two dual competitions.
 
Already this season, Wright has captured the school record in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.33), the 200 back (2:05.70) by more than nine seconds, and the 200 IM (2:08.45). Wright set the 200IM school record against U-Mary after posting a time of 2:11.08, but quickly passed that time in the meet against MSU.
 
Freshman Ella Johnson picked up two individual wins against MSU 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. So far on the season, Johnson has accumulated four total individual victories, with the other two wins coming against U-Mary in the 200 butterfly (2:08.62) and the 100 butterfly (58.95).
 
Sophomore Chantal Kasch recorded the top time against U-Mary in the 200 breaststroke (2:24.06), which lowered her own school record. Kasch has also posted second place finishes in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.55) against U-Mary, and both the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.47 and the 200 breaststroke in 2:27.72 against MSU.
 
With the dual with MSUM set for tomorrow, several swimmers have made the NSIC top 10 times list.  Sophomores Giulia Marcon and returning All-American Cassie Wright lead the way with three top-10 performances.  Marcon, who has won five events in two duals, ranks second, fourth and fifth in the 200, 100 and 50 freestyle, respectively.  Wright, who has won six individual events in two meets, ranks first in the 100 breaststroke, first in the 200 individual medley and second in the 200 backstroke.
 
Following her performance at the MSU dual, Wright was named NSIC Swimmer of the Week after winning three events and setting 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 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 Kasch, Johnson and Marcon.
 
Wright captures second NSIC Swimmer of the Week honor
Wright of Christchurch, New Zealand, earned her second NSIC Swimmer of the Week honor and the USF program has three total (Ingelin Lima, Nov. 21, 2017; Wright, Feb. 6, 2018) in three years in the league.

Coo Tracks
A year ago, the Cougars finished a program-best third at the NSIC Championships, recording three event championships and earned eight All-NSIC honors. Cassie Wright recorded the first-ever USF individual title in winning the 100 back. The Cougars also registered relay wins in the 200 medley and 200 free.

USF sent six swimmers to the NCAA DII Championships last March including Wright, Marcon, Kasch, Maike Doerr, Ingelin Lima and Kyjanna Webber.

At the 2017-18 NCAA DII Championships, USF finished in the top-25 nationally. USF was 21st (51 points), which was the top finish by an NSIC squad and best in program history.

Leading the way was Wright, who had a program-best performance at the NCAA Championships. She earned All-American honors with a second-place finish in the 200 backstroke and third place in the 100 backstroke, becoming USF's first-ever swimmer with top three finishes at nationals. USF's 200 medley relay took 10th and the 400 medley relay was 15th. Four team members were selected Academic All-NSIC.
 
Following the meet at MSU Moorhead, USF will take on cross-town rivals Augustana at the Elman Center on Friday, Nov. 9 for a 5:00 p.m. meet.