Sioux Falls, SD - The 2022 NSIC Swimming and Diving Championship concluded today with the University of Sioux Falls Swimming team placing 4th. USF achieved double-digit B cuts, multiple events wins, and several All-NSIC honorees.
The Cougars finished 4th with 569.5 points on the back of seven top-3 finishes including four event wins in the 800 Free Relay, 100 IM, 200 IM, and 200 Breast. Minnesota State Mankato held 1st place on day 1 and never looked back, the back-to-back champions compiled 1079.5 points. St. Cloud similarly held 2nd place throughout the meet ultimately scoring 892 and besting 3rd place Augustana who totaled 710.5. The remainder of the field rolled out as follows; 5th- MSU Moorhead (262.5), 6th- Northern State (221) 7th- U-Mary (189), 8th- SMSU (154), and 9th- Concordia St. Paul (89).
With multiple stellar performances by individual swimmers and relay teams, USF finished the weekend with seven All-Conference Honorees. The following USF swimmers earned the prestigious honor: Elizabeth Spaans, Sarah Knox, Ilinde du Plessis, Valerie Childs, Inte Pas, Domenica Solano, and Ursula Demarquet.
Spaans led the Cougars with individual event victories in the 100 IM and 200 IM while also helping the 800 Free Relay team to a title and a new meet record. She also placed 3rd in the 100 Back, was part of the 2nd place 400 Medley Relay team, and the 400 Free Relay that placed 3rd.
Inte Pas claimed USF's other individual title with her performance in the 200 Breast as she claimed her first career title. Her time of 2:16.80 ranks 12th in DII and is also a career best. She was also part of the 400 Medley Relay team that took 2nd place and the 400 Free Relay that placed 3rd.
On day 3, the Cougars earned the title in the 800 Free Relay with a new meet record of 7:34.58. The team of Sarah Knox, Ilinde du Plessis, Spaans, and Valerie Childs bested the previous record held by a past USF squad of Childs, Van De Mark, Marcon, and Johnson by .78 of a second.
Final day B standard marks:
During the 200 Back Prelims, du Plessis led her heat with a 2:01.15 that passed the B cut mark by 1.73 seconds. In the final she posted a time of 2:03.74 which landed her in 4th place for the event.
Inte Pas also landed a B cut time with her victory in the 200 Breast. Pas finished in 2:16.80 to easily beat the 2:19.71 B standard time.
USF scoring times from the final day:
1650 Free
4th - Knox - 17:30.00
100 IM
1st - Spaans - 57.53
7th - Ruelas - 59.47
11th (3rd in B final) - Kennedy - 1:01.12
100 Free
7th - Childs - 52.35
9th (1st in B final) - Demarquet - 52.21
200 Back
4th - du Plessis - 2:03.74
5th - Solano - 2:03.77
200 Breast
1st - Pas - 2:16.80
13th (5th in B final) - Abigail Ford - 2:30.66
400 Free Relay
3rd - Childs, Pas, Demarquet, du Plessis - 3:29.95
12th - Ruelas, Giulia Fazza Marcon, Kayla Sayovitz, Knox - 3:39.43
With the NSIC Championship over, USF will await news from the NCAA on which swimmers will move on to the NCAA Championships based on their B cut times. The NCAA Championship will take place in Greensboro, NC from March 9th to March 12th. Stay tuned to USFCougars.com and the USF athletics social media pages for news on which swimmers will be heading to North Carolina.
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Scoring results & B cuts from the first three days:
Scoring Results:
Day 3 :
500 Free
6th - Sarah Knox - 5:05.84
100 Back
3rd - Spaans - 55.85
4th - Solano - 56.40
7th - du Plessis - 57.02
100 Breast
5th - Pas - 1:03.82
12th - (4th in B final) - Ford - 1:07.05
200 Fly
5th - Valerie Childs - 2:09.95
10th - (2nd in B final) - Paulina Ruelas - 2:09.86
13th - (5th in B final) - Makenzy Kennedy - 2:15.48
800 Free Relay
1st - Knox, du Plessis, Spaans, Childs - 7:34.58
12th - Ford, Natalia Escalante, Sayovitz, Marcon - 8:13.09
Day 2:
100 Butterfly
5th - Solano - 55.98
8th - Spaans - 57.55
12th (4th in B final) - Kennedy - 57.89
400 IM
10th (2nd in B final) - Knox - 4:38.40
16th (8th in B final) - Ruelas - 4:46.66
200 Free
4th - du Plessis - 1:53.14
5th - Valerie Childs - 1:53.16
400 Medley Relay
2nd - Spaans, Pas, Solano, Demarquet - 3:46.89
8th - (3rd in B final) - Ruelas, Ford, Kennedy, Knox - 3:55.77
Day 1:
200 Medley Relay
4th - du Plessis, Pas, Solano, Demarquet - 1:43.68
7th - Ruelas, Ford, Kennedy, Ashtyn Molesworth - 1:46.93
1000 Free
8th - Knox - 10:38.86
13th - du Plessis - 10:51.48
50 Free
15th (7th in B final) - Demarquet - 24.00
200 IM
1st - Spaans - 2:03.41
200 Free Relay
5th - Demarquet, Solano, Spaans, Childs - 1:36.28
13th - Sydnie Saddoris, Marcon, Sayovitz, Molesworth - 1:40.95
NCAA B standard marks:
Day 1:
Elizabeth Spaans
- 200 IM - 2:03.41
Day 2:
Ilinde du Plessis
- 200 Free - 1:52.13
Domenica Solano
- 100 Fly - 55.98
Day 3:
Inte Pas
- 100 Breast (Prelims)- 1:04.00
- 100 Breast (Finals)- 1:03.82
Ilinde du Plessis
- 100 Back (Prelims)- 55.72
Elizabeth Spaans
- 100 Back (Prelims)- 56.15
- 100 Back (Finals)- 55.85
Domenica Solano
- 100 Back (Finals)- 56.40
