IOWA CITY, Iowa – Saturday inside the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, the Denver women secured their 13th consecutive Summit League Swimming & Diving championship, while the Pioneer men captured their 12th title in the past 13 seasons and fifth straight. The women finished atop the team standings with a total score of 971, while the men claimed the crown with 862 points.
 
Women’s Final Standings

Place	School	Score
1.	Denver	971
2.	South Dakota	799
3.	Omaha	533
4.	South Dakota State	458
5.	St. Thomas	410.5
6.	Southern Indiana	252.5
7.	Eastern Illinois	161

Men’s Final Standings

Place	School	Score
1.	Denver	862
2.	South Dakota	832
3.	Omaha	577.5
4.	South Dakota State	458
5.	St. Thomas	349.5
6.	Southern Indiana	275
7.	Eastern Illinois	169

Women's Individual Awards
Swimming Championship MVP: Sabrina Rachjaibun, Denver
Diving Championship MVP: Savanna Berry, Denver
Newcomer of the Championships: Julia Saxman, Denver
Scholar of the Championship presented by JLG Architects: Grace Schultz, South Dakota (interview here)
Diving Coach of the Year: Aaron D'Addario, Denver
Swimming Coach of the Year: Alicia Hicken-Franklin, Denver
 
Men's Individual Awards
Swimming Championship MVP: Nick Rounds, South Dakota
Diving Championship MVP: Owen Kipp, Omaha
Newcomer of the Championships: Brock Russell, South Dakota
Scholar of the Championship presented by JLG Architects: Tanner Reed, South Dakota (interview here)
Diving Coach of the Year: Eric Sprague, Omaha
Swimming Coach of the Year: Jason Mahowald, South Dakota
 
Notes on Individual Honorees
Pioneer junior Sabrina Rachjaibun was named the women’s Swimming Championship MVP after a stellar weekend, scoring 60 total points and capturing three individual gold medals for the Pios.
 
She completed her title defense in the 500 free, posting a time of 4:49.40 while also winning the 200 fly and 400 IM.
 
Teammate Savanna Berry successfully defended her Diving Championship MVP honor on the women’s side, earning the accolade after sweeping both board events.
 
In the 1-meter dive, Berry became the fourth consecutive DU women’s diver to claim the title, totaling a score of 261.25. She followed with another gold on the 3-meter board, posting a winning and NCAA Zone Cut score of 286.05.
 
Denver freshman Julia Saxman earned the women’s Newcomer of the Championship award after sweeping all three of her individual events in her debut season, taking gold in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly.
 
Claiming the men’s Swimming Championship MVP honor was South Dakota’s Nick Rounds, who turned in an exceptional weekend. The sophomore earned six gold medals for the Coyotes, including individual wins in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 back, posting NCAA Standard times in both freestyle events.
 
Owen Kipp earned the men’s Diving Championship MVP honor after winning gold in the 1-meter dive and claiming silver in the 3-meter. The Eagan, Minn., native posted NCAA Zone Cut scores in both events, recording 323.35 points on the 1-meter board and 323.80 points in the 3-meter.
 
Taking home the men’s Newcomer of the Championship award was fellow Coyote Brock Russell. The freshman standout scored 52 points to help lead the Yotes to a second-place team finish, capturing gold in the 200 breaststroke, finishing second in the 200 IM, and placing fourth in the 100 breast.
 
Denver’s Aaron D’Addario was named the women’s Diving Coach of the Year for the seventh straight season. After a year highlighted by multiple NCAA Zone Cuts across the roster, D’Addario’s group carried that momentum into a strong championship performance.
 
The Pioneers secured three of the four individual diving gold medals and also captured the women’s team diving title.
 
Denver head swimming and diving coach Alicia Hicken-Franklin earned her seventh consecutive women’s Coach of the Year honor. Over the weekend, Hicken-Franklin led the Pioneer women to their 13th straight conference title and guided the men to their 12th championship in the last 13 seasons.
 
Omaha diving coach Eric Sprague was named the men’s Diving Coach of the Year, marking the first time in program history a Maverick diving coach has earned the honor. Sprague guided Owen Kipp to a gold medal in the 1-meter dive, a silver in the 3-meter dive, and helped lead Omaha to a victory in the team diving event.
 
The men’s Coach of the Year honor went to South Dakota’s Jason Mahowald, who became the first USD coach to receive the award after guiding the Coyotes to a runner-up team finish. Mahowald also oversaw multiple individual and relay gold medals, highlighted by sophomore Nick Rounds collecting six combined gold medals and recording two NCAA Standard performances.
 
Other Notable Performances
South Dakota opened the night with a sweep in the women’s and men’s 1,650-yard freestyle, as Emily Diprospero claimed gold on the women’s side before Alex Parkinson followed with an NCAA Standard performance in the men’s race. Parkinson touched in 15:04.40 to earn the automatic qualifier, becoming the second Coyote to post an NCAA Standard at the meet alongside Nick Rounds.
 
DU junior Darian Koler earned her first individual gold medal of the championships in the women’s 200-yard backstroke, touching in 1:57.76. South Dakota’s Joaquin Contreras-Fallico followed with a victory on the men’s side in 1:42.68, securing his third combined gold medal of the meet.
 
The women’s 100-yard freestyle saw Denver freshman Julia Saxman touch first in 50.14 to collect her third individual gold of the meet, while USD’s Rounds followed with a win on the men’s side (42.98) to add his sixth combined gold medal of the championships.
 
USD’s Taylor Buhr turned in a standout swim in the women’s 200-yard breaststroke, touching in 2:13.36 to claim gold after cutting more than 2.5 seconds off her preliminary time. On the men’s side, teammate Brock Russell followed with a gold-medal performance of his own, winning in 1:57.26.
 
Rachjaibun became the second Pioneer of the meet to sweep all three of her individual events, leading the women’s 200-yard butterfly podium with a winning time of 1:59.96. On the men’s side, Southern Indiana’s Sam Smith posted a standout 1:47.77 to claim gold, marking the Screaming Eagles’ first medal and top finish of the meet.
 
The Denver women closed out the meet with a strong finish, touching first in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:24.31, while the South Dakota men wrapped up the championships with a relay victory in 2:55.82.

Women’s Champions Crowned
1,650 freestyle: Emily Diprospero, South Dakota | 16:48.52
200 backstroke: Darian Koler, Denver | 1:57.76
100 freestyle: Julia Saxman, Denver | 50.14
200 breaststroke: Taylor Buhr, South Dakota | 2:13.36
200 butterfly: Sabrina Rachjaibun, Denver | 1:59.96
3M dive: Savanna Berry, Denver | 286.05 (NCAA Zone Cut)
400 freestyle relay: Denver | 3:22.08

Men’s Champions Crowned
1,650 freestyle: Alex Parkinson, South Dakota | 15:04.40 (NCAA Standard)
200 backstroke: Joaquin Contreras-Fallico, South Dakota | 1:42.68
100 freestyle: Nick Rounds, South Dakota | 42.98
200 breaststroke: Brock Russell, South Dakota | 1:57.26
200 butterfly: Sam Smith, Southern Indiana | 1:47.77
400 freestyle relay: South Dakota | 2:55.82
 
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