SIOUX FALLS—The University of Sioux Falls Swimming Team (3-1) will look to continue their strong start to the season by hosting (3-1) DI Nebraska Omaha (1-3) in a dual meet on Tuesday, Dec. 18 at the Midco Aquatic Center at 12 p.m. Fans may watch the meet live by clicking here.
 
The Cougars, directed by 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 then traveled to the NSIC preseason favorite Minnesota State and fell, 161-136, but won the swimming portion of the meet. USF then defeated MSU Moorhead, 179-111, and traveled to rival Augustana and came out victorious with a, 163-98 dominating performance. USF also swam to an impressive third-place finish at Rochester Invite.
 
Last time out
At the Rochester Invitational on Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, USF Chantal Kasch and Ella Johnson set school records while Cassie Wright met the "B" national qualifying standard in two events to highlight a standout performance by USF. The USF team finished third overall at the invite with 1178.5 points.  
 
Wright, a sophomore All-American, won a pair of individual events as she swam a NCAA DII B-cut in the 100 backstroke with a 56:50 clocking on day one of the Invite. She followed up with a second win and another B-cut in the 200 back of 2:02.30 on day two. Wright also swam the third leg on USF's fourth place 400 freestyle relay which clocked a 3:32.23. Other members of the 400 freestyle relay included Elizabeth Spaans, Giulia Marcon and Jenna Krahn that took fourth overall with a time of 3:32.23. Wright concluded her performance by claiming fourth in the 200 IM where she finished fourth with a time of 2:09.32 as she just edged past Spaans, who was fifth in 2:10.04.
 
Johnson set a school record time of 2:06.06 as she cruised to a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly on Saturday. Johnson also finished third in the 100 fly with a time of 57.55. Kasch, who is a sophomore, also had a big weekend. On Saturday, she set a school record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.32 and placed fifth. Then on Sunday, she was fifth in the 200 breaststroke with a school record time of 2:23.44.
 
Other notable performances include the third-place finish by Giulia Marcon in the 500-Yard freestyle with a time of 5:09.52 on Saturday. Marcon just edged out teammate Nina Groene, who finished fourth respectively with a time of 5:11.77. Marcon, who took the fifth place in the 50 free (24.64), swam on the 400 free relay which finished fourth and was eighth in the 100 free (53.38).  She also anchored the 200 freestyle relay, which clocked a 1:36.77. Other team members of the 200 freestyle relay included Krahn, Groene, and Wright.
 
USF swimmers continue to shine
Already this season, sophomore All-American Cassie Wright has captured the school record in the100 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 200 IM school record against U-Mary after posting a time of 2:11.08, but quickly passed that time in the meet against MSU. Most recently at the Rochester Invite, Wright finished first in the 100 back with a B cut time of 54.77 in which she beat the second place finisher by over two seconds. She also captured the 200 back title with another B cut time of 2:02.30.
 
Wright, who has won 10 individual events in four duals, ranks first in NSIC in the 100 breaststroke, first in the 200 individual medley and second in the 200 backstroke.
 
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. Kasch was a three-event winner against MSUM as she also captured two individual events of her own in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.77) and 200 breaststroke (2:25.85). Against Augustana, Kasch finished with the top time in the 200 breaststroke (2:26.56) as she defeated the second place finisher by over four seconds and grabbed second in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.57).
 
Most recently at the Rochester invite, Kasch set a school record in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:05.37 for a fifth place finish. The next day, Kasch set another school record in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:23.44, which was good for a fifth place finish in that event.
 
Marcon had an outstanding start to the season after capturing individual titles in the 200 free (1:57.84) and the 500 free (5:20.89) against MSUM. Marcon, who won six individual events in the first four duals, ranks second, fourth and fifth in the 200, 100 and 50 freestyle, respectively in the NSIC.  
 
Freshman Ella Johnson, who has accumulated nine individual victories this season, opened the season by capturing the 100 butterfly (58.51), and the 200 butterfly (2:08.68) against MSUM. Johnson also played a crucial role in both relays as she swam the first leg of the 400 free relay. She also picked up two individual wins against MSU with a 2:08.32 clocking in the 200 butterfly for a pool record. She also won the 100 butterfly in 58.26. Johnson had a pair of wins against U-Mary in the 200 butterfly (2:08.62) and the 100 butterfly (58.95), as well as two wins against Augustana in the 200 butterfly (2:08.14) and the 100 butterfly (58.14). Most recently at the Rochester Invite, Johnson posted a new school record in the 200 fly with a time of 2:06.04 as she finished with the top overall time in that event.
 
Wright holds two NSIC Swimmer of the Week Honors this season
Following her impressive showing at the dual meet with Augustana where she won three individual events and anchored a winning relay squad event, Wright of Christchurch, New Zealand, earned her third total NSIC Swimmer of the Week honor. It was her second NSIC weekly honor this season. As a program, USF program has four total NSIC Swimmer of the Week honors (Ingelin Lima, Nov. 21, 2017; Wright, Feb. 6, 2018; Wright, Oct. 26 2018) in three years in the league.
 
Series vs. Nebraska Omaha
USF has never faced Nebraska Omaha in a meet in program history. Nebraska Omaha is led by head coach Todd Samland who enters his 22^nd season. The duo of Rachel Morrow and Grete Baker anchor the Mavericks as Morrow swims in the 50, 100, and 500 free, and Baker leads the team in the 200 IM, 400 IM, and the 200 butterfly.