SIOUX FALLS – No. 16 University of Sioux Falls Swimming will try to use the momentum of an outstanding regular season to try and earn its first-ever team crown as the 2019-20 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championships begins Feb. 12-15 at the BSC Aquatic & Wellness Center in Bismarck, N.D.  U-Mary will serve as host school for the four-day event, which will include 200 student-athletes competing in 22 different swimming and diving relays. Each day will begin with trials at 10 am with finals at 5:30 pm.

USF fans and supporters wishing to follow the championships can follow at  www.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.  Following the league championships, USF will host a Last Chance Meet on Feb. 23 to qualify for nationals at the Midco Aquatic Center. The NCAA DII Championships will be March 11-14 in Geneva, Ohio.

Nationally-ranked Cougars finish with perfect dual record 
For the first time in school history, the Cougars, directed by second-year Head Coach Chris Hamstra, have finished a dual season with a perfect 8-0. As a result, USF earned national recognition by the CSCAA/TYR including rankings from 11-16 during polls all season. With its unbeaten mark, USF added to its overall success in duals. In four seasons, USF has a 19-6 record which includes a 13-2 mark over the past two seasons.

In this season, USF has had more than 25 "B" cuts, two national qualifying relay cuts and 13 school records. Among USF's wins in duals was an impressive 174-114 win over DI Nebraska-Omaha when the Cougars won 12-of-16 events. They also finished a standout performance at the Augustana Invitational with 23 NCAA "B" cuts and seven school records as the meet concluded last Nov. 23. After three days of competition, USF finished only behind two DI schools. South Dakota State University was first with 1,301.5 points with University of South Dakota second at 1,251 points and USF, third, at 1,092 points.   

Cougars placed third in past two NSIC Championship meets
In each of the past two NSIC tourneys, the Cougars have finished third. And then USF followed league success by establishing itself as a top-25 program in NCAA DII. USF has had back-to-back top-21 finishes at the NCAA DII nationals.

A year ago, USF hosted the NSIC Championships and finished third for the second straight year by totaling 605.5 points. At the meet, USF broke four NSIC meet records, recorded seven NCAA 'B' cuts, one NCAA 'A' cut, set five school records and six swimmers posted personal-best results. Ella Johnson set a school and conference record in the 100 butterfly and set a school mark in the 200 butterfly. At DII nationals, USF scored 60 points and claimed a program-best 20^th place.

The top-20 finish by his team was a very pleasing result for USF Head Swimming Coach Chris Hamstra, whose team had two All-American honors, and four honorable All-American performances at the 2019 championships. In just its second year as a program, USF placed third with 581 points in 2017-18. At that meet, USF won two relays and an individual title and placed second in five other events as they shined in the meet at West Fargo, N.D. From there, USF, which advanced five individuals to the nationals, placed 21^st at the DII nationals with 51 points with two individual All-American honors.

In the first year of the program, USF tallied 298 points in their first conference meet and recorded two All-NSIC finishes.  Five freshman competed for USF, which included current senior Kyjana Webber.
 
USF has had four NSIC Swimmers of the Week
USF has had four NSIC Swimmers of the Week, including standout junior Chantal Kasch, who became the third different USF swimmer named NSIC Athlete of the Week in 2019-20 on Nov. 23. A junior from Stade, Germany, Kasch is the fourth USF swimmer (Ella Johnson, twice; Jenna Krahn) to earn the NSIC weekly honor in the 2019-20 season. Kasch earned the award after a high-level performance at the Augustana Invitational where she put together two top six individual times – both NCAA "B" cuts - and was part of two relays which had NCAA cuts to nationals. As such, Kasch is part of four events now ranked nationally. Kasch won the 200 breast with an NCAA B cut of 2:17.58 (prelims) before clocking a 2:18.2 in the finals. With the clocking of 2:17.58 in the 200 breast, she ranks 10t in NCAA DII. In the 100 breast, Kasch not only had an NCAA "B" cut but she broke a school record with the sixth-ranked time in DII at 1:02.10 in the prelims. In the finals she clocked 1:02.26 to win the individual title. She was part of the 400 medley relay (Elizabeth Spaans, Ella Johnson, Jenna Krahn and  Chantal Kasch), which won a title in 3:46.26 at the Augie Invite. The relay's clocking was an NCAA cut and will send the relay to nationals in that event.  With Kasch leading the way, the USF relay ranks 11th in DII. She also swam on the 200 medley relay which also had an NCAA cut of 1:43.02 which sends the team to DII nationals in the event. She was joined on the relay, which is ranked ninth in DII, by Ella Johnson, Elizabeth Spaans, and Jenna Krahn.

USF sophomore Ella Johnson and junior Jenna Krahn have been named NSIC Swimmers of the Week, with Johnson earning these honors twice. Johnson, who has three fly times that rank in the top 15 nationally, was honored after accounting for seven individual or relay wins during the quad dual in Bismarck on Oct. 5. Krahn was honored by league after she had an NCAA "B" standard, won the 100 free and was a major contributor in three relays as the Cougars rolled to dual meet victories over Minnesota State, MSU Moorhead and Augustana on Oct. 25-26.    

Johnson, Krahn, Spaans and Kasch among individuals ranked nationally
In total, Johnson, who earned honorable mention individual honors in the 200 back at the NCAA DII nationals and was part of an All-American relay, is part of seven events, individual or relay, which ranks in the top-25 nationally. Johnson, who has 24 individual or relay wins this season, ranks third in the 200 fly with a clocking of 1:59.73 (11-23-19), sits fourth in the 100 fly at 54.29 (11-21-19). She is also 15^th in the 50 fly at 26.31.  Johnson is a member of the 11^th ranked 400 free relay, 10^th ranked 800 free relay, 11^th ranked 400 medley and ninth-ranked 200 medley.

Kasch is ranked in three individual and five overall events (two relays) in DII. She is sixth nationally and first in the NSIC in the 100 breast with a clocking of 1:02.10. In the 50 breast, Kasch ninth nationally and first in the NSIC with a clocking of 30.50. She is also 10th in DII and first in the NSIC in the 200 breast with a "B" standard time of 2:17.58. Kasch is also a member of the ninth-ranked 200 medley and the 11^th-ranked 400 medley relays.

Krahn is ranked in the top 25 in the 50 free with her clocking of 23.33 ranking 19^th in DII.  She is also a member of the 10^th ranked 200 free relay, the 11^th-ranked 400 free relay, the 11^th ranked 400 medley and the eighth-ranked 200 medley.

Elizabeth Spaans is ranked in the top-25 in two individuals events and swims as part of four ranked relays. She has a DII ranking of 17^th in the 50 back with a time of 26.13 while sitting 18^th nationally in the 100 back with a clocking of 55.55.  She is part of the 200 free relay ranked 10^th; 800 free relay, ranked 10^th; 400 medley relay, ranked 11^th and the ninth-ranked 200 medley relay. 

Senior Leah Eagleton is a member of the ranked 200 free relay (10^th), 400 free relay (11^th) and 800-free relay (10^th).    

NCAA DII Rankings – Individual

Among the individual rankings, Ella Johnson has two top four rankings while Chantal Kasch is ranked in the top 10 in three events.

50 Free – Jenna Krahn, 19^th, 23.33 (B standard), 11-21-19, 2^nd  NSIC
50 Back – Elizabeth Spaans, 17^th, 26.13, 11-21-19, 1^st NSIC
100 Back – Elizabeth Spaans, 18^th, 55.55, 11-22-19, 1^st NSIC
50 Breast – Chantal Kasch, 9^th, 30.80, 10-5-19, 1^st NSIC
100 Breast – Chantal Kasch, 6^th, 1:02.10 (B standard), 11-22-19, 1^st NSIC
200 Breast – Chantal Kasch, 10^th, 2:17.58 (B standard), 11-23-19, 1^st NSIC
50 Fly – Ella Johnson, 15^th, 26.31, 10-5-19, 2^nd NSIC
100 Fly – Ella Johnson, 4^th, 54.29 (B standard), 11-21-19, 1^st NSIC
200 Fly – Ella Johnson, 3^rd, 1:59.73 (B standard), 11-23-19, 1^st NSIC

USF ranked relays
USF has five relays ranked in the top 11 which including three (200 free, 10^th; 800 free, 10^th; and 200 medley, 9^th) ranked in the nation's top 10.

200 Free – 10^th, 1:34.44, 11-22-19 (Elizabeth Spaans, Leah Eagleton, Jenna Krahn and Kyjanna Webber), 1^st, NSIC
400 Free – 11^th, 3:27.23, 11-20-19 (Ella Johnson, Jenna Krahn, Ursula Demarquet and Leah Eagleton), 1^st, NSIC
800 Free – 10^th, 7:33.80, 11-19-19 (Elizabeth Spaans, Leah Eagleton, Ella Johnson and Giulia Fazza Marcon), 1^st NSIC
400 Medley – 10^th, 3:46.26, 11-5-19 (Elizabeth Spaans, Ella Johnson, Jenna Krahn and Chantal Kasch), 1^st NSIC
200 Medley – 9^th, 1:43.02, 11-21-19 (Elizabeth Spaans, Ella Johnson, Chantal Kasch and Jenna Krahn), 1^st NSIC
 
Breaking Down the NSIC rankings
USF ranks first in 16 events which includes relays. Spaans is ranked first in four events while Johnson and Kasch are both ranked first in three events.

50 Free --  USF has five student-athletes ranked in the top seven. Jenna Krahn is second  in 23.33 with Webber, fourth, 23.59; Eagleton, fifth, 23.65; Demarquet, sixth, 23.67; and Spaans, seventh, 23.78.

100 Free – The Cougars have four in the top seven and led by Eagleton, who is third at 51.43. Krahn is fourth at 51.52; Demarquet, 5^th, 51.63; and Johnson seventh, 51.91.

200 Free – USF has two in the top four with Johnson third at 1:51.88 while Giulia Fazza Marcon is fourth at 1:52.53.

500 Free – In this event, USF has three in the top seven with Marcon ranked second at 4:59.24 while Nina Groene is fourth at 5:01.41 and Evelyn VanDeMark, seventh, 5:03.77.

1000 Free – With two of the top eight, USF is led by Alex Sanchez Clark, sixth, 10:50.36 and freshman Makenzy Kennedy, eighth, 10:51.56.

1650 Free – USF ranks three in the top nine with Groene, second, at 17:24.07. Also for USF, Kennedy is fifth, 17:37.16 and Sanchez-Clark, ninth, 17:59.45.

50 Breast – USF has two of the top five in this event. Kasch is first with a clocking of 29.25 while freshman Abigail Ford is fifth at 31.21.

100 Breast – Kasch is top ranked in the 100 breast with a clocking of 1:02.10 which is nearly three seconds up on the second place ranker.

200 Breast – Kasch is also ranked first in three events with her clocking of 2:17.58 in this event more than five seconds up on the next swimmer ranked. Ford is ranked eighth at 2:26.42.

50 Back – USF has two of the top four with Spaans ranked first at 26.13 and Gigi Bario, fourth, 27.18.

100 Back – The Cougars have two of the top five in this event. Spaans is ranked first at 55.55 with Bario, fifth at 58.41.

200 Back – Spaans is ranked first in four events, including the 200 back with her 2:02.53 clocking. Senior Julia Zanto is eighth with a clocking of 2:08.65.

50 Fly – Led by Johnson, who is ranked first in 25.43, the Cougars have three in the top eight. Freshman Valerie Childs is third in 26.50 while Demarquet is eighth in 26.90.

100 Fly – Like Spaans, Johnson is ranked first in three events. With her clocking of 54.29, she is first in the event. USF also has three others in the top eight with Childs, fourth, 56.94; Kennedy, seventh, 57.85; and Demarquet, eighth, 57.89.

200 Fly – Johnson leads fourth USF swimmers in the top 10 of the 200 fly. She is first at 1:59.73, which is early eight seconds faster than the next swimmer ranked. Kennedy is fourth at 2:07.89; while Childs is ninth at 2:09.98 and VanDeMark, 10^th, 2:11.71.

100 IM – Spaans is ranked third in 59.21.

200 IM – In the 200 IM, USF is ranked in the top three spots and led by Spaans at 2:04.92 with Kennedy, second, 2:07.40 and Kasch, third, 2:08.91.

400 IM – Kennedy leads two in the top six of this event. Kennedy ranks first in the NSIC with a 4:30.67 with Spaans, sixth, 4:37.40.

Relays – The Cougars are ranked first in all five relays.

200 Free – USF is top-ranked in his event with a 1:34:44 clocking which is just ahead of SCSU at 1:35.21.

400 Free – The Cougars hold the top spot with a 3:27.23 seed time, which is more than three seconds ahead of second place Augustana at 3:30.39.

800 Free – With a clocking of 7:33.80, USF is first with a time that nearly seven seconds ahead of second place Augustana at 7:40.07.

200 Medley – The Cougars have clocked a seed time of 1:43.02 and that time is better than second place St. Cloud State (1:45.15) by two seconds.

400 Medley – USF is ranked first in this event with a clocking of 3:46.26, which is five seconds better than Minnesota State at 3:51.74.