The SDSU aquatic teams had a big day Dec. 3. The men’s and women’s swim team competed at the Falcon Invitational, while the dive teams made a splash at the Hawkeye Invitational.

The Jackrabbit diving teams competed at in Iowa City, Iowa where four athletes stood out from the rest. Clark Kocourek and Connor Florand finished 13th and 17th respectively in the 3-meter diving preliminaries for the men. Meanwhile Erin Eagen and Dana Greco placed 23rd and 26th in the 1-meter diving preliminary.

The men’s and women’s swimming teams competed  the same day at the Falcon Invitational, an unscored meet hosted by the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. The men turned in a set of solid showing, including a winning performance from Chris Schreier in the 200-yard butterfly. Schreier went on to finish fourth in the 200-yard individual medley.

Others who placed in the top five for the Jacks were Blake Yeager, third in the 500-yard freestyle, Phil Albu and Alex McClain, who finished third and fourth, in the 200-yard backstroke. Wil Hogue,  rounded out the Jackrabbit effort taking fifth in the 50-yard freestyle.

The women’s team was led by an exceptional performance from Morgan McLain,  she set the pace, winning two events, the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard backstroke. Another event champion was Andrea Budahl, who won the 500-yard freestyle. Following Budahl in the 500-yard freestyle was Samantha Fossum, who finished second just four seconds behind Budahl.

Fossum would also finish third in the 200-yard freestyle, followed just under two seconds later by Jessica Ferley in fourth place. Trina Young was the last of the Jacks to finish in the top five, taking third in the 200-yard butterfly.

The Jackrabbit swim and dive teams return to action at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion on Saturday, Dec. 10 for their last meet of the first half of the season.

Q. How have things changed since you first started coaching 36 years ago?

A. When I first started here, I was considered full time swimming but I was also an assistant football coach for 15 years and then had the intramural program. We were pretty much a non-scholarship walk-on type of a program. Especially in the last six years since we moved to Division I, being funded, being able to recruit, and being able to get some good quality athletes, that’s probably the biggest change.

SDSU head swimming and diving coach Brad Erickson

Q. Of the 24 events for both men’s and women’s swimming and diving, 18 school records were set by the men’s team and 17 records were set by the women in the past two years. What does that say about the quality of program and athlete now at SDSU?

A. The biggest thing is you think every year ‘When is this going to stop?’. To break 18 and 17 records in two years is just unheard of. Like I said with the ability to recruit good athletes, since we got scholarship money, that’s giving us a chance to go out and get better and better athletes each year. Kids that came in four years ago, when they get to be seniors, some of them, if they had those same times as seniors i

Stepping up and facing adversity is the name of the game in college sports. If evidence needs to be provided, look no further than the SDSU swimming and diving team.
Delays in planned renovations and the discovery of other areas that needed attention at the HPER Center Pool leaves the team without a home facility.
What exactly does this mean for the Jacks?
“The biggest issue is just not feeling at home in the water. I’ve swam in that pool for three years now and it’s just a weird feeling. I miss it a lot,” senior swimmer Kyle Avocato said.
The swimmers have been practicing at Brookings High School, having to schedule around high school practices. That means 5:45 a.m. practice times or coming in during the day while school is in session, one less swimming lane, extra organization from the coaches-the list goes on.
“There’s some schedule challenges there, but the actual training (for swimmers), it shouldn’t affect us,” head coach Brad Erickson said. “It’s a different story for the divers.”
Brookings High School may have a pool, but doesn’t have diving boards to match. The solution for now is having the divers practice on a trampoline set up in the balcony of Frost Arena, which is used for working on twists and body control. Erickson said he’s even been in contact with the University of North Dakota to see if his divers could use UND’s facilities for a few weekends to get some practice in on the boards before their first meet on Oct. 15.
Erickson was quick to assure that he didn’t feel the delays would have a negative impact on the team. He was looking more on the brighter side of things.
“When it’s all said and done, we’re basically going to have a brand new pool. It’s going to be a new deck, new gutter system, new diving boards…it will be something very appealing once we get there,” Erickson said.
The pool deck was the project’s main upgrade. The company, RenoSys, was hired for the job, as it previously worked on SDSU’s pool. Originally the plan was to put a new liner over the existing floor. Erickson said the company used that method about 10 years ago. Fast-forward to 2011 and some areas of the 10-year-old deck are warped and wavy.
“The whole thing was just about safety and repair,” Erickson said.
So the pool was drained in early June, and renovations began in late June. RenoSys had initially predicted that the project would take about three weeks. The original deadline was July 31 to finish up the deck.
RenoSys sent a two-man crew to take care of the job. Two weeks later, they added four more workers. The six-man crew needed another three weeks just to remove the old vinyl from the deck.
“The process was just a lot slower than expected. The deadline was moved back to mid-August…then the issue came up with FINA [swimming’s governing body],” Erickson said.
The issue, according to Erickson, was that FINA had changed certain standards pertaining to diving boards. Because the diving board standards were 39 years old and weren’t up to code anymore, they needed to be replaced and a wall needed to be altered.
The wall is near the diving well and used to angle inward. This presented a liability risk to the company selling the diving boards. The company was worried about a diver hitting the wall, which meant they would only sell SDSU the new boards if the angle was taken out of the wall, making it straight and vertical.
In early July, the decision was made to begin work on the wall. This pushed the project back even further and presented another problem. The diving well is the “deep end” of the pool, which makes it hard to work near the ceiling without room for the use of scaffolds.
Now, a giant wooden platform stretches across the width and depth of the pool. It looks like something from the set of Titanic, minus the water and Leo DiCaprio.
The newest deadline is Oct. 1, and Erickson hopes he can get his swimmers and divers in their home pool a few weeks before their first meet. But, the team has weathered the storm so far.
“It’s causing our team to become closer earlier in the season,” Acocato said. “Normally it takes us a bit, but this year the team is already getting along great, which is awesome.”
Some coaches or players would be angry or upset about being in this situation. That isn’t the way Erickson or his swimmers have handled it.
“We’ll make it work. There are going to be challenges along the way, but we’re going to keep it positive,” Erickson said.

Both the men and women set program records for highest Summit finish since D-I move.

The South Dakota State men’s and women’s swimming and diving team capped off a successful 2010-11 season with the best Summit League finishes in school history last weekend in Indianapolis.

For the second year in a row, the women placed second to Oakland. Led by senior Alex Hoffman, the former Miss South Dakota had a hand in five of the eight records set on the women’s side. Individually, she set school marks in the 100 freestyle and the 200 backstroke.

“Alex had a really good meet,” said SDSU head coach Brad Erickson. “She wasn’t very happy with how she swam the first day, but I told her your career is not set on one race. It’s that whole thing.”

Hoffman ends her career with four individual records, a member of four relay record teams and 53 career wins.

Andee Budahl set the 1000 freestyle record in 10 minutes, 22.64 seconds and Jessica Ferley broke the SDSU record in the 100 backstroke in 58.41 seconds.

In diving, Erin Eagen broke her own school record with a 3-meter point total of 266.10 on the final day of the four day competition to round out the individual winner for the Jacks.

The women set three freestyle relay records; three of which included Hoffman and freshman Shauna Foor, while two also featured a freshman in Kaylin Caron.

For their runner-up efforts, Erickson was named Summit League Women’s Coach of the Year; a first in his 35 year career at SDSU.

“It was nice to have that honor since it is voted on by the other coaches, so it is nice when your peers recognize that you do a good job,” Erickson said. “It was the athletes that got that for me and if they hadn’t performed like that, I wouldn’t have received the honor.”

The third place men’s team had outstanding championship showings from a pair of freshmen and a sophomore as Chris Schreier, Phil Albu and Kyle Ochsner put their stamp on the SDSU record book.

Schreier broke his own record in winning the 200 butterfly in 1:49.06 to become the first Jackrabbit on the men’s side to win a conference event since Benji Erickson at the 2001 NCC Championships. It was the Indiana native’s 21st win on the season as he set at least one record each of the four days withseven total.

“We pulled together and gave the biggest push for every place we earned,” Schreier said. “The meet was also successful for myself as Iachievedtimes and places that were not expected by myself and possibly coaches.

The victory in the 200 Fly almost didn’t happen as Schreier was very close to being disqualified. The rule for the backstroke and butterfly is that your head has to break the surface by the 15 meter mark and according to Erickson, Schreier was probably two inches from being disqualified.

“I wanted to make a statement to our team and other teams out there that we are a school that is growing and getting better,” said Schreier. “It gave not only me, but the team the confidence we are going to need going into next season. It was also a great way to end the year on top.”

That concluded one of the great seasons for a swimmer in SDSU history, let alone a freshman that still have three years to improve.

“This freshman year was more than I could have ever asked for,” said Schreier. Conference set times high for the next three years and harder goals to match, but that makes for even harder practicing. I had to change some expectations for senior year on those swims, possibly a conference record when I am done.”

Fellow freshman Phil Albu also picked up his game with six record breaking performances, with three of them, the 50 freestyle and the 100 and 200 backstroke, being individual records.

John Bisson actually had the 50 freestyle record due to his time earlier in the meet, but Albu’s time was good enough at 21.51 seconds to take away the record that Bisson held for about 45 seconds.

Sophomore Kyle Ochsner also set six school records, splitting them evenly between individual records and relays. He showed his versatility by not only setting a new school mark in the 200 freestyle in 1:41.25, but also in the 1000 free (9:40.14) and 1650 free (16:00.80).

“I was very pleased with how things went”, said Erickson. “We swam really, really well and having a second place finish for the women and a third for the men is very satisfying.”

The Oakland men and women’s both won the Championships for the 12 straight year, but Erickson is encouraged by the steps his squad is taking.

“The gap is getting tighter, but it’s a ways off. Oakland is just heads and heels above everybody else, but we are narrowing the gap. I don’t know when it will happen, but eventually, that is the goal.”

Women’s Final Team Rankings

1. Oakland – 1060

2. South Dakota State – 625.5

3. South Dakota – 536

4. Centenary – 360

5. Eastern Illinois – 282

6. IUPUI – 281.5

7. Western Illinois – 190

Men’s FinalTeam Rankings

1. Oakland – 998

2. Centenary – 539

3.South Dakota State- 504

4.Eastern Illinois- 498

5. South Dakota – 301

6. IUPUI – 258

7. Western Illinois – 200

In the final home dual of the season, the South Dakota State women’s swimming and diving team broke two school records in defeating the University of North Dakota 171-129 at the Stanley J. Marshall HPER Center Friday night, while the men lost 139.5-158.5.

The women won 13 events on the night, with Erin Eagen setting a new school mark in 1-meter diving. Eagen’s score of 252.45 points won the event and was nearly five points better than the school record that she set last season. She was also less than 2.5 points away from breaking her school record in 3-meter diving.

“I don’t know the last time we won a diving event against North Dakota,” said head coach Brad Erickson, who is in his 35th year.

Alexandra Hoffman and Stephanie Young each won three events on the night, including teaming up with Ashley Valdez and Jessica Ferley to open up the meet with a winning time of 1 minute, 49.54 seconds in the 200 medley relay.

Ferley’s 50 backstroke of 27.96 seconds to lead off the relay set a new school record. She went on to sweep the backstroke events, with a 100 backstroke of 59.02 seconds, a 200 backstroke time of 2:07.29, and a winning 400 IM finish of 2:13.68.

Hoffman went on to win the 50 freestyle (24.59 seconds) and the 100 freestyle (53.43 seconds) for her 53th career victory. Young swept the breaststroke with a time of 1:08.01 in the 100 and a 200 breaststroke finish of 2:26.97.

Valdez also had an individual win coming in the 100 butterfly, with a time of 59.18 seconds.

Emma Wright won her second 200 butterfly of the season with a time of 2:12.50.

Andrea Budahl rounded out the women’s dominant win with a 1000 freestyle time of 10:29.07, less than a second off the school record, and a victory in the 500 freestyle in 5:09.85.

“I told the women after the meet that, to my recollection, it’s probably the first dual meet victory over North Dakota since before any of them were born,” Erickson said. “It was a great meet to be a part of and to see how well we performed.”

Back in October, the Jackrabbit women lost 194.5-97.5 to UND in Grand Forks during their season opener. Young was the only swimmer to win an event.

“We just swam a lot better, said Erickson. “It’s not so much what has happened to North Dakota. It’s the things that we have done to change and improve.”

The SDSU men didn’t have quite the same success the second time around. They defeated UND 161.5-138.5 in October when Chris Schreier burst onto scene with four wins and two school records to start off his college career.

Erickson changed some things up in the opening 200 medley relay by not having Schreier take part and also changed the 1000 freestyle lineup.

“We didn’t feel they (UND) were particularly strong in backstroke and, looking at the first two events, we thought we could change our lineup and still win those events and it backfired on us,” Erickson said.

“The old sayings, if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas. It could have been different, it might not have been. Those are things I told the team after the meet that I will take the blame on.”

Schreier won two events, with the most impressive coming in the 200 butterfly. The freshman won in 1:51.96, just 0.39 seconds away from breaking his school record. The next closest swimmer was over 11 seconds behind. Schreier also won the 100 butterfly in 52.42 seconds for his 20th win of his spectacular freshman season.

Freshman Phil Albu swept the backstroke events as he won the 100 backstroke in 53.82 seconds and followed that up with a 200 backstroke time of 1:58.29.

In the 200 breaststroke, sophomore Shea Patrick placed first, clocking in at 2:11.87, and in the 500 freestyle, sophomore Kyle Ochsner claimed the 19th win of his career with a time of 4:51.51.

Next week, the Jacks are in Minneapolis for the two day Minnesota Challenge starting at noon on Friday and at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

#1.1960146:870522456.png:Wright.png::

Rarely is an athlete so dominant so early on.

No matter what sport you talk about, the transition to the next level has a certain learning curve attached to it. The speed of the game is quicker. The competition is better. Practices are harder and more intense. But for some reason, Chris Schreier doesn’t seem to have any of these problems.

The Portage, Indiana, native burst onto the scene this fall for the South Dakota State swimming team and has had unprecedented success so far.

In his first collegiate dual at the University of North Dakota, Schreier won four events and set two school records in the 100 and 200 butterfly.

The first time he swam at the HPER Center pool vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay, he set a pool record of 1 minute, 51.96 seconds in the 200 butterfly.

He earned Summit League swimmer of the week honors on both occasions.

Think about that. Swimming has been going on for decades at SDSU and Schreier had the fastest 100 and 200 butterfly times ever recorded for SDSU in his very first competition. Then he sets the pool record his first time out in a place that has seen over three decades of swimming meets.

He has since gone on to set new school records in the butterfly events that most other swimmers can’t stand.

“Everybody hates it,” Schreier said. “Butterfly is hard to begin with and most can’t even survive a 100 butterfly and you put a 100 on top of that, it’s even harder. I have the endurance for it and I train for it all the time. I find it fun.”

Schreier started swimming when he was around 10 years old and his parents signed him up for a club team later on so that he could get out of the backyard pool. His younger brother Alex also got involved and now Chris’ life revolves around the pool.

When looking at what college to go to, Schreier looked around the area at some of the local schools before deciding on SDSU.

“I just wanted to get out,” said Schreier. “Everyone goes to Indiana or Purdue and I just wanted to say that I went somewhere different.”

“Chris first wrote to us, along with several other schools, in early fall of his senior year,” said Brad Erickson who is in his 35th season as head swimming coach. “He was interested in the nursing program and in a school where he would have success in swimming.”

The scariest part about the whole thing is that Chris is only a freshman and will only get better.

“I never lifted weights in high school and now I think I gained 10 to 15 pounds in muscle mass since I have been here,” said Schreier. “That’s what is helping drop times. You might not think that the more muscle the better in swimming, but it’s working.”

Usually, swimmers peak at the end of the season so that their best times come at the conference championships. So the question remains, how much better can Schreier get?

“I like to set goals and I thought they were kind of high at the time, but that’s what I strive for all the time. I set my goals at the start of the season and I am almost hitting them now. I set some every year, like I wanted to do this before my senior year ended. This year I set a goal of getting first in conference by the end of my senior year. Right now, I am on track to finish in the top three already as a freshman, so it has been pretty good.”

“He has already broken our school record and set his own personal record in most everything he competed in this fall,” Erickson said. “His biggest drops will probably happen this year, with minor drops by the time he graduates. Right now his 200 butterfly time is 1:51.00. I don’t think it is out of his reach to be at 1:45.00 or better by the time he is done.”

As if Schreier needs any extra edge over the completion, he will get it at the Summit League Championships.

With the three-day meet in mid-February being hosted by IUPUI, one of the schools that Schreier looked at, being only about a two-and-a-half hour drive from his hometown, Chris will have quite a few fans on hand. Plus, he has had more than a few meets at the IUPUI pool.

“The other big adjustment, besides academics, would be being away from home for so long,” said Schreier. “I was always at home, parents were always at meets all the time. Now I see them about once a month. (Good thing for Skype he said with a smile on his face) They have been to three or four meets, but that’s the one thing that really been pretty hard.”

“He should have a good following of friends and family, which should motivate him to perform well in front of them,” Erickson pointed out. “Pool familiarity is good, but not an essential part of a great swim. What will be of benefit is that the pool at IUPUI is a fast pool by design.If a pool is known to be a fast pool, swimmers are excited to have the opportunity for a great performance.”

With another victory in the 100 butterfly this past weekend at USD, Schreier upped his career win total to 18. Erickson said that he hasn’t seen anything like it in all his years.

“The season is about two-thirds done at this point and if he keeps on the path that he is on right now, it should be one of the best freshman performances I can remember.”

#1.1918796:575267203.png:chris-BRUA.png:Chris Schreier has set two school records in the butterfly and has helped to set an SDSU record in the 200 medley relay as a freshman. ?I set my goals at the start of the season and I am almost hitting them now,? Schreier said. :Collegian Photo by Stephen Brua

Editors note: Brad Erickson has entered his 35th year as the SDSU Swimming and Diving coach. We caught up with him about his teams and his hopes for the Summit League Championships in February.

Q.Your thoughts on your team’s season so far?

A. Starting with the women, we have a very young team, we’ve brought 15 freshman in this year. I would say so far they’ve done a great job contributing to the success we’ve had so far. On the men’s side, it’s very similar. We brought in some freshman that have made a major impact on our performances this year.

Q. One standout so far this year is freshman Chris Schreier, what can you say about his talent and the year he’s had so far?

A. It’s a pleasant surprise to have that kind of talent with us, I think he’s surprised as well. A lot of the times he’s doing are his own personal records as well. To clock those times he’s done, the school records that he’s got for us under our training is really amazing and we’re very excited to see what he can do at conference. He’s a good talent, he’s a hard worker, he’s brought some good things to the team not only by times.

Q. On the women’s side, there are some familiar names and a sister of a great swimmer for the program, what can you say about the women that have surprised you this year?

A. I think the biggest thing, not so much a surprise, is the depth that we’ve gotten. We’ve gotten people that are coming in and coming close right behind the Hoffman’s and Budahl’s on our team. It’s just such a pleasure to come to practice everyday and watch these kids train and work and improve.

Q. What are some of the trial’s of having a swimming/diving team at SDSU?

A. I think facility wise our biggest challenge is space. We’ve got 48 people on our roster trying to pin into a six-lane pool, it puts a lot of time on our coaching staff that’s probably on deck usually six or seven hours a day with different groups in getting things done. That does take away from the team concept a little, a lot of times the only time the entire team sees each other is at a meet because they practice with each other at different times during the day.

Q. You go on a training trip to Florida every year, what’s beneficial about that event?

A. The biggest thing is our focus is on the sport. They don’t have to worry about classes, tests, papers or anything like that. It’s a time where they can really focus on the sport of swimming. The other benefit is it’s a great team bonding and building time, they really get a chance to know each other when they’re away from the pool. Personalities come out; it’s just a time to focus on the sport and on each other.

Q. Do you feel like your team is shaping up nicely to have a nice showing in the Summit League conference championships in Indianapolis this February?

A. I think that we’ve got a very good shot to finish second, both men and women. Oakland University is still at this point the team to beat and they’ve got the depth. If you look at the top 10 performances the league sends out every week, they’ve probably got six or seven of those 10. To say that you’ve got a chance to beat them at this point is unrealistic, but for us our women did finish second last year and the men were fourth. I would be disappointed if we didn’t retain that spot with the women and move up a spot or two with the men, that’s the goal we’ve been talking about with the team all year is where we can position ourself and how we can get there.

ST. LOUIS, MO. – Freshmen made an impact for both the men and the women as the South Dakota State swimming and diving team split their double dual with St. Louis University as the women won 136-107 while the men fell 144-99 on Jan. 15.

First year swimmer Andrea Budahl had three wins on the night starting with a pair of distance freestyle events taking the 1000 free in 10 minutes, 35.94 seconds and the 500 free in 5:11.18. Budahl also contributed to the first place 400 freestyle relay (3:39.59) along with Alexandra Hoffman, Shauna Foor and Kaylin Caron.

Hoffman went on to capture the 200 freestyle in 1:57.23 as she is only three wins shy of 50 for her career.

Foor was the anchor leg for the 400 medley relay of Lisa Newberger, Stephanie Young and Ashley Valdez that opened the meet with a winning time of 4:05.93.

Young, a freshman from Turlock, Calif., placed first with a 200 breaststroke time of 2:25.98

For the men, freshman sensation Chris Schreier won the 200 freestyle in 1:46.54 and the 200 Butterfly in 1:54.36 to bring his first year win total to 15.

The other swimmer to place first for the men was Shea Patrick as he took the 200 breaststroke clocking in at 2:12.50.

Brad Schoreit had a score of 254.50 points in the second 1-meter diving competition just missing out on breaking his own school record of 254.63 points.

ST. LOUIS, MO. – For the second day in a row, the South Dakota State swimming team split a dual vs. the Univiersity of St. Louis, this time with the Jackrabbit women (6-6) coming out on top 121-103 and the men (3-3) losing 130-94 on Jan. 16

Andrea Budahl won a pair of events for the second time in as many days with a 400 IM of 4 minutes, 45.19 seconds and a first place finish of 5:14.07 in the 500 freestyle.

A trio of fellow freshman also had a winning day starting with Emma Gaulke-Janowski in the 1000 freestyle in 10:48.38. In the 100 backstroke, Kaylin Caron edged out teammates Lisa Newberger and Kali Temperley to take the event in 1:01.88. Rounding out the underclassman was Stephanie Young clocking in at 1:08.21 to place first in the 100 breaststroke.

Senior Alexandra Hoffman won her 48th career event with a 100 freestyle time of 54.12 seconds.

Chris Schreier paced the men with another pair of wins coming in the 400 IM (4:10.51) and in the 100 butterfly (51.31 sec.) to push his first year win total to 17.

In the men’s 100 backstroke, freshman Phil Albu captured first with a finish of 54.20 seconds.

Kyle Ochsner had his 16th career victory come in the 200 freestyle in 1:46.33

The men and women return to action on Friday, Jan. 21 when they travel to Vermillion to take on Summit League and in state rival the University of South Dakota starting at 6 p.m.

The SDSU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams dropped their first home dual of the season Friday, Nov. 5 to Wisconsin-Green Bay at the HPER Center Pool. The women lost 135-108, while the men lost a heartbreaker 122.5-120.5.

A total of three school records were set with two coming on the men’s side. The 400 medley relay of Phil Albu, Shea Patrick, Chris Schreier and John Bisson finished in a record-setting time of 3:29.89 that was also a pool record.

The freshman Schreier was not done as he went on to break his 18-day-old SDSU 200 butterfly record in a winning time of 1:51.96, also a pool record. The Indiana native now has eight wins in his first three collegiate meets.

“He’s got great technique and a real good work ethic in practice,” said head coach Brad Erickson. “Those are the things that will get the job done for you.”

Albu won the 200 backstroke in 1:56.45, while Patrick was victorious in the 200 breaststroke clocking in at 2:10.87.

Kyle Ochsner won a pair of freestyle events claiming victory in the 1000 by nearly 20 seconds with a finish of 9:50.78. He would also take the 500 free in 4:47.08.

When the final tally was totaled, it looked like the men would be triumphant as it showed they won by four points. After a miscalculation was found and the scores recounted, it showed the Jacks as a two-point loser.

“It was disappointing obviously, but we swam so well,” Erickson said. “It was incredible. It was just a fun meet to watch when it comes down to the last relay (400 freestyle). Every exchange was close and everybody put in their full effort. I told the team afterwards that our staff wasn’t any more proud, win or lose, with the way that we swam.”

When asked if he had ever heard the HPER Center Pool as loud as it was during the final relay to decide the meet, the 35-year head coach said, “I don’t know that I have. It’s probably the most exciting meet that my assistant coach Phil Hurley and I have been involved with. It was a lot of fun.”

On the women’s side, Jessica Ferley set the 100 backstroke record as a part of the winning 400 medley relay team (3:57.95) with Stephanie Young, Ashley Valdez and Alexandra Hoffman. Ferley broke Hoffman’s record, finishing her split in 58.54 seconds.

Ferley went on to win the 500 freestyle in 5:12.60. Hoffman had a pair of individual wins first coming in the 50 freestyle at 24.70 seconds, followed by a 200 backstroke finish of 2:10.34.

Freshman Andrea Budahl came about as close as you could get without breaking a school record as her winning 1000 freestyle time of 10:28.20 was only .03 seconds away from setting a new SDSU mark.

“Having two school records on the men’s side, which were also pool records and a near school record on the women’s side this early in the season is just so incredible,” Erickson said. “It’s a group of athletes that are working very hard and they are seeing some results.”

“It’s tough to swim three events hard in two-and-a-half hours. Now that this is the third meet of the season for everyone, I think that it shows they are learning how to do that.”

The women (1-3) are back in the pool this Saturday, Nov. 13 with a double dual against Northern Iowa and Northern Colorado in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The first double dual starts at 10 a.m. followed by the second at 12 p.m.

“We match up very well with both teams,” Erickson said. “It’s going to come down to the end just like tonight. There are a lot of races where they have the advantage where we are usually good and there are races where we need to step up and finish out those close ones. I won’t make any predictions, but if we swim like we did tonight we will do very well.”

The men (2-1) have the week off before returning to action at home on Saturday, Nov. 20 for a dual against in-state rival South Dakota.

#1.1766772:1547291212.jpg:Swimming Ryan Robinson 11.jpg:The SDSU men?s and women?s swimming and diving teams fell last weekend to Wisconsin-Green Bay. The Jacks return home to the HPER Center Pool on Nov. 20.:Collegian Photo

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Freshmen led the way as the South Dakota State men’s and women’s swimming and diving team split the season opening dual at North Dakota on Saturday.

Chris Schreier won four events and broke two school records while Phil Albu won three events as the Jackrabbit men defeated UND 161.5 – 138.5, with the women losing 97.5 – 194.5.

Schreier and Albu were both a part of the winning 200 medley relay that finished in 1 minute, 37.02 seconds. Schreier was far from done as he broke the school record in the 200 butterfly with a winning time of 1:54.12. He followed that up with another record breaking win, this time in the 100 butterfly in :51.00 and a 200 freestyle win at 1:43.65.

Albu had a pair of individual wins starting in the 100 backstroke in :53.94 and in the 200 backstroke in 1:59.44.

The men won a total of 10 events, including two from Kyle Ochsner. The sophomore continued right where he left off after an impressive freshman season with a 1000 freestyle win in 10:04.68 and a victory in the 500 freestyle with a finish of 4:51.54.

The SDSU women would see freshman impress as well with Stephanie Young winning her first career event, the 200 IM, in 2:16.26. Young also was the runner-up in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.07) and 200 breaststroke (2:28.00).

Andrea Budahl finished with a pair of second place showings as well in the 500 freestyle (5:12.31) and the 200 IM (2:17.76)

The men (1-0) return to action on Oct. 30th vs. Western Illinois in Ames, Iowa, with the women (0-1) taking part in a double dual against WIU and Iowa State. Both meets are scheduled to start to 1 p.m.