BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The University of Sioux Falls Athletics Department has moved from sixth to fourth overall in the 2019-20 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference All-Sports standings through the winter sports season, according to an announcement by the league on Thursday, March 12.

USF was fourth overall in the all sports standings with 94.5 points and just behind Minnesota Duluth in third with 99.5 points. Leading the league points race was Augustana with 128 points followed by Minnesota State at 118.5 with UMD, USF and U-Mary (93 points) in the top five of the 16-team league.  In the NSIC Men's standings, USF was third with 46.5 points with Augustana first at 59 points and Minnesota State in second with 54.5 points. In the women's rankings, the Cougars rank eighth – a jump of four spots from the fall – with 48.0 points. USF is just behind Winona State at seventh with 54 points.  
 
USF, which finished a program-best third in the final standings in 2018-19, was led by USF Men's and Women's Basketball Team, which finished second overall in the NSIC with a 17-5 league mark and won its first-ever NSIC South Division title. USF tied the 2015-16 team for the program's best record in the DII era. With a 26-6 record overall, USF had its second best season in the program's DII era. The USF Men's Team also captured second overall in the NSIC with a 17-5 record, which was also the program's best mark in the DII era. USF was 22-8 overall which was the program's best mark of the DII era. The USF Swimming Team finished third with the most points it has scored as a program (797) while USF Indoor Men's Track and Field was sixth (55 points) and Women's Track and Field was 8^th (34) points in the other sports this winter.

In its eighth year in the NSIC, USF continues to make an impact in the NSIC and across NCAA DII with focused student-athletes and coaches building a series of team successes program-wide. USF has placed seventh or better every year with a program-best third this past year.

The NSIC All Sports Award is calculated by awarding the winner of each conference-sponsored championship points totaling the number of teams in that sport plus one. The next place finisher receives points totaling the number of teams less the number of places from first place. Ties in the standings at any level result in the totaling of points and equal distribution.

Winter Recap
The Women's Basketball Team, which was directed by Head Coach Travis Traphagen (all-time wins leader at 243), finished the 2019-20 with a 26-6 overall record and a 17-5 league mark, which was second overall in the league. Led by seven seniors, including All-NSIC first-team selections Kaely Hummel and Mariah Szymanski, the Cougars won the NSIC South Division title for the first time. The Cougars also earned the program's second NCAA DII Regional Championship bid as the No. 3 seed. Hummel, who was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team and first team All-D2CCA Region, finished her career as the program's third all-time leading scorer with 1,733 points and set a program mark for made threes with 273. Szymanski had 1,172 career points for 17^th all-time and finished seventh all-time with 171 made threes and eighth with 247 assists. Senior Jacey Huinker, who is the only player in school history to be on two teams that earned NCAA DII regional appearances, ended her career with 789 career rebounds for eighth all-time and second in the DII era and her 85 offensive rebounds this season was a DII program mark. Like Hummel she was named to the CoSIDA All District Team.

Directed by Head Coach and NSIC Coach of the Year Chris Johnson (all-time wins leader with 217 at USF and 233 overall), the Cougars finished second overall in the NSIC at 17-5 and had a program-DII best overall record of 22-8 record. USF won the NSIC South Division title for the first time and Johnson earned his first-ever NSIC Coach of the Year honor. The Cougars had a first-team All-NSIC performer in sophomore guard Chase Grinde and junior forward Teathloach Pal was named to the All-NSIC second team. Freshman guard Jack Thompson was selected Honorable Mention All-NSIC. The Cougars were picked to finish 10^th in the NSIC Coaches Preseason Poll and opened the league with 10 wins in the first 11 league games. The Cougars finished two games ahead of Upper Iowa in the NSIC South.

The USF Swimming Team, directed by Head Coach Chris Hamstra, finished third for the third straight year at the NSIC Championships and advanced four individuals (junior Chantal Kasch, sophomore Elizabeth Spaans, junior Ella Johnson and junior Jenna Krahn) to the NCAA DII Championships for the first time. The Cougars, which recorded an unbeaten record in dual competitions for a first time in the four-year program's history, had a program best 797 points or 192 more than a year ago (605.5, 2019). USF had eight individuals or relays crowned champions at the 2020 NSIC Championships, and finished third for a third consecutive year but with 797 points the team finished just 8.5 points from second place and Minnesota State at 805.5 points. They had 12 DII provisional marks and 34 All-NSIC performers.

In Track and Field, the Cougars finished sixth in the men's division with 55 points and eighth in the women's division with 34 points. The Cougars, directed by Head Coach Doug Peterson, had five individuals qualify for the NCAA DII Indoor Championships including senior Zach Lundberg, junior Taryn Ceglowski, junior Emma Hertz, senior Jaimie McNamee and sophomore Kanya Henderson. At the league championships, USF had nine top-10 program marks, eight NCAA provisional marks overall and 16 top-eight performances during the championships. USF had a title in the men's DMR which set a conference record of 10:04.89.

Fall Recap -
 
The Men's Cross Country squad, directed Head Coach Doug Petersen, advanced to the NCAA DIIs National for a third straight year and fifth time overall in eight years at DII. USF finished 23rd led by two-time All-American Mason Phillips who finished 59th.  USF, which was ranked as high as seventh nationally, finished fifth (146 points) at the NCAA DII Central Regional Championships as Phillips was fourth with a career-best finish in 30:17.08. After Phillips, senior Steven Brown was fifth in a PR of 30:18.66 while senior Zach Lundberg took 16th in 31:13.56. USF was third with 92 points at the NSIC Championships as Phillips was second while Lundberg finished fifth as both were first team All-NSIC. Senior Dan Armstrong was named second team All-NSIC. The Men's Team had nine Academic All-NSIC honorees with five named to the NSIC Academic Team of Excellence.

USF Women's Cross Country Team, directed by Head Coach Doug Petersen, had a second team All-NSIC honor from senior Montana Belford (20th). The Cougars took eighth with 239 points at the league championships. At the NCAA DII Central Regional, Belford moved up 46 spots from a year ago and finished 54th as USF was 16th with 540 points. As a result, USF was a spot higher in the region standings that a year ago. Also making the top 100 regional finishers was freshman Lauren Wells. Also for the USF WCC Team, eight individuals were Academic All-NSIC honorees with five named to the NSIC Academic Team of Excellence (3.6 GPA or higher).

In volleyball, Head Coach Joel McCartney's team was 11th overall in the NSIC with a 17-11 overall record and a 9-11 mark in league play. The Cougars opened 11-0 and earned a national ranking in the AVCA National Poll for the first time. USF opened at 24th and moved up to 19th in the AVCA poll. Seniors KaSandra Springer and Abby Feyereisen were named second team All-NSIC. In addition, the Cougars had six Academic All-NSIC honorees with both Feyereisen and Springer earning their third straight honor. Three USF student-athletes were named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence.

With Harlon Hill candidate Caden Walters (one of 36 nominees for the DII Player of the Year honor) leading the way, the USF Football Team advanced to the NCAA DII playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons. After a heart-breaking 24-21 playoff loss to No. 7 Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo., the Cougars, directed by third-year Head Coach Jon Anderson finished 8-4.  USF, which finished tied for third overall and third in the NSIC South, recorded a 26th straight winning season, which ranks fourth across all divisions. The Cougars placed two players (Walters and Nolan Kern) on the All-NSIC South Division first team and 12 overall. Nick Zimmerman was named CoSIDA Academic All-District. Also USF Football had 17 student-athletes named to the Academic All-NSIC Team with seven on the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence.

In soccer, Head Coach Brittany Domino, which had an honorable All-NSIC honoree in Lily McKown, was 13th with a 4-10-1 record in league play and 4-13-1 overall. USF had 12 student-athletes named Academic All-NSIC with seven selected to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence.