Terry Rolfe

MANKATO, Minn. -- The University of South Dakota men’s swimming and diving team captured its first dual meet victory of the season Saturday with a 143-141 win over Minnesota State, Mankato at the MSU Mankato meet in Mankato, MInn.

The men’s meet featured USD, Mankato and St. Cloud State, was scored as three separate duals. USD fell to St. Cloud State, 154-140. The Coyote women did not compete at the event.

The Coyote men won seven events on the day, including a relay.

Terry Rolfe (So., Newcastle, Wyo.) led the way for the Coyotes. He won the 200-yard freestyle at 1:45.40 and was the winner in the 200-yard backstroke at 1:59.59. Rolfe added a runner-up finish in the 200 IM at 2:00.18, with teammate Sinjin Wilkerson (Fr., Hastings, Minn.) taking third at 2:02.89.

Nick Challgren (Fr., Cedar Falls, Iowa) captured his first event win as a Coyote, winning the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:20.90. He edged St. Cloud State’s Joe Palmersten by .03 seconds. Matt Weyer (So., Taos, N.M.) was third in that race at 10:27.06.

Thad Stoddard (So., Douglas, Wyo.) continued his outstanding sophomore season as he won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.01 and was second in the 100 freestyle at 48.52.

Dane Van Arkel (So., Colorado Springs, Colo.) was third in that race at 49.04.
Van Arkel was victorious in the 50-freestyle with a time of 22.27.

Weyer won the 500-yard freestyle at 4:59.17, with Challgren taking third at 5:00.64. Wilkerson was second in the 200-yard backstroke at 2:00.75.

Bridger Miller (Jr., Upton, Wyo.) was third in the 200 breaststroke after finishing with a time of 2:20.37.

USD’s 200 freestyle relay was victorious with a winning time of 1:27.18. That consisted of Stoddard, Van Arkel, Ty Clikeman (Sr., Gillette, Wyo.) and Miller.

The USD 200-yard medley relay was second at 1:38.87. That consisted of Stoddard, Miller, Wilkerson and Rolfe.

Both USD teams will resume action after Thanksgiving. The USD divers will compete on Dec. 4-5 at St. Cloud State, while the USD swimmers will compete at the Falcon Invitational in Minneapolis on Dec. 4-5 as well.

Note: USD did not have a diver compete at the event, as Chris Hause (So., Overland Park, Kan.) is out with an injury.