SIOUX FALLS – The University of Sioux Falls Swimming will try to use the momentum of an outstanding regular season into the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championships which will be held Feb. 13-16 at the Midco Aquatic Center. USF will be the host school of the championships for the first time.
 
USF fans and supporters wishing to follow the championships can follow at http://northernsun.org/NSICSD. The site will include links to live results, live video, photos, results from each day and the scoring procedure of the meet (events, etc.). Also follow USF Swimming through Instagram and their twitter account @USF_Swimming, as well as @USF_Athletics for updates.
 
This season, USF has had a strong 2018-19 season with six NCAA B cuts, eight school or pool records, four NSIC Swimmer of the Weeks honors, and a 5-2 dual record. At last year's NSIC Championship meet, Sioux Falls amassed 581 points across the four-day meet, and placed third. Minnesota State snapped St. Cloud State's chance at four straight conference titles as the Mavericks captured the team title with 973 points to SCSU's runner-up total of 952.5.  
 
The Cougars finished with three event victories and a total of eight all-conference finishers including Nina Groene, Giulia Marcon, Cassie Wright, Jenna Krahn and Gigi Bario. The USF relay team of Wright, Kasch, Maike Doerr and Ingelin Lima took first place in the 200 medley (1:51.80), while the team of Lima, Marcon, Wright and Kyjana Webber claimed the top finish in the 200 freestyle relay (1:33.64). Wright captured the lone individual NSIC title in school history in the 100 back with an NCAA 'B' cut clocking of 54.53.
 
In just its third season, USF already has a top 25 national finish (21^st, 2017-18) and earned the CSCAA Scholar All-American team honor three straight years. The program also had the highest GPA at the DII level in 2018.
 
 
Season Review
USF, directed by first year head coach Chris Hamstra, recorded five wins in seven dual meets this season. The Cougars began their 2018-19 campaign 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 rolled to a 163-98 decision in a 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. The Cougars traveled to Aberdeen on Jan. 11, and won 9-of-11 events as they cruised to a 126-76 victory at Northern State. USF beat Iowa Lakes Community College, 108-55 on Jan. 19 behind an all-around impressive team victory at the Midco Aquatic Center. Most recently, The Cougars captured 12-of-19 total events, including four total relays, at the Coyote invite hosted by University of South Dakota.
 
Last time out- Coyote Invitational
USF broke three school records and had several stand-out performances to conclude a brilliant weekend of competition at the Coyote Invite hosted by USD (Feb. 1-2). Leading the way for USF was freshman Ella Johnson. In the final day of the Coyote Invite, she dominated the 200-meter butterfly with an NCAA DII 'B' cut clocking of 2:00.63 where she beat the second place finisher by 10.5 seconds. Johnson's time is a school record, a personal best while currently ranks her first in the country for DII.  For her performance at the Coyote Invite, Johnson received her first NSIC Swimmer of the Week honor and the fifth in USF school history.
 
Sophomore All-American Wright took first in four total events on Saturday, including two individual titles as well as sweeping both relays. Wright was first in the 100 back where she posted an NCAA 'B' cut time of 55.89, as well as the 100 IM (58.78). Also in the 100 IM, teammate Elizabeth Spaans was runner-up with personal record time of 59.70.
 
The 200 medley relay team of Wright, Kasch, Johnson and Krahn achieved a season-best time of 1:45.23 en route to a first place finish, while in the 400 free relay, Spaans, Marcon, Krahn and Wright posted another season record time of 3:31.86 while claiming the top overall time in the meet.
 
Kasch also won the 200 breaststroke with a school record and NCAA 'B' cut clocking of 2:19.60 where she beat the second place finisher (2:28.65) by nine seconds. Kasch's time ranks her 24th in the country. Kasch also broke another USF school record at the Coyote Invite in the 100 breaststroke with a clocking of 1:04.60.
 
Wright continues to shine
Already this season, sophomore All-American Wright has captured the school record in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.33), the 200 back (2:02.30) by more than 12 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. 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. Against NSU, Wright claimed two individual victories in the 50 free (24.52), and the 200 back 2:05.43) where she defeated the second place finisher by almost 17 seconds. In her last meet against ILCC, Wright swam a NCAA 'B' qualifying time of 23.80 in her 50 free portion of the first place finishing 200 free relay. Wright also took the top time in the finished with the top overall time in the 50-yard backstroke (26.07) where sophomore USF Tori Bailey was second in 29.87. In her most recent action in the Coyote Invite, Wright took the top time in two individual events (100 back and 100 IM), and also led both relays to a pair of wins.
 
So far this season, Wright has amassed 19 individual victories in nine contests and ranks first in NSIC in the 100 back, first in the 200 back, first in the 100 individual medley, second in the 50 free, third in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke, as well as fifth in the 200 IM.
 
After her showcase against ILCC (Jan. 11) where she won two individual events (50 and 100 back) and posted a NCAA 'B' cut time in her 50 free portion of the first place 200 free relay, Wright received the NSIC Swimmer of the week honor for the fourth time in her career, and the third time this season. As a program, USF program has five total NSIC Swimmer of the Week honors (Ingelin Lima, Nov. 21, 2017; Wright, Feb. 6, 2018; Wright, Oct. 26 2018; Wright, Jan. 23, 2019) in three years in the league.
 
Johnson ranks second in NCAA DII in the 200 Fly
At the Coyote Invite, Johnson dominated the 200-meter butterfly with an NCAA DII 'B' cut clocking of 2:00.63 where she beat the second place finisher by 10.5 seconds. Johnson's time is a new school record, a new personal record and currently ranks her second in the country for DII. Johnson also set a school record in the 100 butterfly with a 55.97 finish, which was also an NCAA B standard. Johnson's time was the 28th best time of the season in NCAA DII. In the NSIC standings, Johnson currently holds the top overall rank in the 50, 100, and 200 fly.
 
Johnson who has accumulated 14 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. Against NSU, Johnson was victorious in the 100 butterfly in 57.92 and the 200 butterfly in 2:07.43. Against ILCC, Johnson was first in the 100 butterfly in 57.64 where she beat the second place finisher (Kasch, 1:04.77) by over seven seconds.
 
Kasch putting together outstanding season
Sophomore Chantal Kasch, who has recorded nine individual titles this year, currently sits second in the NSIC in the 100 breaststroke after a 1:04.60 clocking at the Coyote Invite. Kasch opened the year with a strong effort against U-Mary where she won 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. Against NSU, Kasch recorded an individual first place finish in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:26.63 where she defeated the second place finisher, NSU swimmer Shayna Asuncion (2:41.08), by almost 14 seconds.
 
Marcon has accumulated nine wins this season
 
Sophomore Giulia Marcon, who has recorded nine individual wins this year, is currently ranked sixth in the NSIC in the 500 free and seventh in the 200 free. Most recently, Marcon captured the 200 free with a season-best time of 1:54.93. Marcon has had an outstanding start to the season as she just took the top individual place in the 100 free with a time of 54.47 where she edged out Eagleton who finished with a second place time of 55.03. Among her eight wins were the individual titles in the 200 free (1:57.84) and the 500 free (5:20.89) against MSUM.