Swim and dive teams complete USD sweep

By AUSTIN HAMM Sports Editor

The SDSU swim and dive teams traveled to Vermillion this past weekend to face off against USD in a dual for the second time this season and swept them once again.

The men’s team won 182-108 to follow up the 189-111 victory they posted over the Coyotes in Brookings in November. The women’s race was much tighter, as the Jacks pulled a 155-139 win after they had throttled the USD women 182-116 in the HPER. 

The Coyotes have an interesting home advantage as they swim a 25-meter short course as opposed to the 25-yard course the SDSU team is accustomed too. That slight advantage may have helped to close the gap on the women’s side, but the Jacks had some individuals come up and make the difference.

“Last time, they went 1-2 in the 1000-yard here. Down there it was an 800-meter, but Kendra (Hinton) came through and won that, and I think that was one of the key differences between the two times we swam against them,” SDSU head coach Brad Erickson said.

Keyed by sweeping the relays, the men’s team dominated in a very similar fashion to the previous match-up with USD.

“Men’s side wasn’t quite as tight. They were down a couple of people due to injury and illness, but we were too and it kind of balanced itself out. Nothing particularly huge for individual performances, just a good solid effort as a team,” Erickson said. 

Having faced off against their instate and conference rivals twice now, the Jacks now have a pretty good idea for how they match up against the Coyotes, and all signs point to advantage-Rabbits moving forward.

“As far as head to head competition,  it tells us that when it all shakes out we should be ahead of them,” Erickson said. “Denver will likely repeat as champions on both sides at conference, and I think it’ll come down to us and IUPUI for second.”

Next up, the Jacks will travel to Grand Forks, N.D. to face UND as they build momentum towards the end of the season. 

“It’s another step on the way to the conference championships,” Erickson said. “Connor Florand has made zones in diving, and we’re hoping at conference Emily Campbell can make an ‘A’ cut, but really everything we do builds towards the conference championships.”