SIOUX FALLS—In their first meet following the Christmas break, the University of Sioux Falls Swimming Team (3-2) will face Northern State (1-7) in a dual competition in Aberdeen, S.D., at 5:30 p.m. Fans may watch the meet live by clicking here.
 
The Cougars, directed by head coach Chris Hamstra, will face NSU for just the second time in the three years of the program. The Cougars took a 109-95 decision on Nov. 3, 2016, also in Aberdeen, S.D.
 
USF opened up their 2018-19 season by dominating 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 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 and dropped a home dual to NCAA DI Nebraska Omaha, 169.5-124.5, on Dec. 18.
 
Last time out
The USF Swimming Team won 9-of-16 events but dropped a dual decision to NCAA DI Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 18 at the Midco Aquatic Center. USF was led by sophomore All-American Cassie Wright, who accounted for four total wins which included swimming the opening leg on the winning 200-yard medley relay. She also claimed individual victories in the 100 back (:55.96), 200 back (2:04.85) and 100 IM (58.16). In the 100 back, Wright, who has 13 individual wins this season, won the competition by over four seconds and was ahead by the field by nearly three seconds in the 100 IM win. And, in the 200 back, she completely dominated the field and defeated the field by nearly 10 seconds.
 
Aside from Wright, both sophomore Chantal Kasch and Ella Johnson were part of three victories. Along with Wright, Kasch, Johnson and junior Leah Eagleton were members of the victorious 200 medley relay, which clocked 1:48.72.
 
Kasch also claimed victories in the 100 breaststroke with a clocking of 1:06.17 and captured the 200 breast in 2:25.35. She was also fifth in the 100 IM in 1:04.83.
 
As for Johnson, who now has 11 individual wins this season, was victorious in the 100 butterfly in 57.92 and the 200 butterfly in 2:07.43. Sophomore Jenna Krahn finished tied for first in the 50 freestyle with Rachel Morrow of UNO with both swimmers clocking a 24.54. She was also second in the 100 freestyle in 54.65 and fourth in the 200 freestyle. Krahn also completed in USF's 200 freestyle relay which was second in 1:39.47. Other squad members of the USF relay included Eagleton, Lizza Spaans and Giulia Marcon.
 
USF swimmers continue to shine and break records
Already this season, sophomore All-American 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 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 13 individual events in five 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 won 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).
 
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. Kasch has claimed the top time in six individual events through five dual meets.
 
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 five duals, ranks second, fourth and fifth in the 200, 100 and 50 freestyle, respectively in the NSIC. 
 
Freshman Ella Johnson, who has accumulated 11 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 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). 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. Most recently Johnson was victorious in the 100 butterfly in 57.92 and the 200 butterfly in 2:07.43.
 
Wright has earned 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 History vs. Northern State
                USF leads series over NSU, 1-0
In the sole meeting between USF and NSU, the Cougars took a 109-95 decision on Nov. 3, 2016. The Cougars won six of the individual events that year and took both the relays to secure the victory. Allison Eppinga and Mackenzie Crane had strong performances for USF. Eppinga cruised to a victory in the 200 backstroke, posting a winning time of 2:05.30. Earlier in the meet, Eppinga won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:56.81. Crane was perfect in her mid-distance events, winning both the 1,000- and 500-yard races. Crane won by nearly 18 seconds in the 1,000 free, posting a 10:58.96 for the victory and she was equally dominant in the 500 free at 5:22.11 while Morgan Hockel took fifth in the race.