BROOKINGS, S.D. – The Park Rapids duo of Spencer Fritze and Marcus Benson concluded the season by helping the South Dakota State University men’s swimming and diving team place fourth at the Summit League Championships at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis on Feb. 22-25.
Fritze capped off his senior season by placing fourth on the 3-meter diving board with 311.85 points and sixth in 1-meter diving with 264.50 points to score 28 points for the Jackrabbits. Benson ended his junior season by competing in three events, placing sixth in the 100-yard backstroke in 49.98 (after finishing eighth during preliminaries in 49.85), ninth in the 200 backstroke in 1:49.30 (after placing 10th during prelims in 1:50.66) and 24th in the 200 individual medley in 1:57.30 (after finishing 27th during prelims in 1:56.20) to score 13 points.
Those efforts helped the Jackrabbits finish fourth in the team standings with 495 points to trail repeat champion Denver’s 902 points, Lindenwoods’s 798.50 and South Dakota’s 546 in this eight-team meet.
SDSU opened the season by defeating Augustana 207-87 in a dual meet on Oct. 14. Fritze finished first with 277.90 points in 1-meter and 301.55 points in 3-meter while Benson took fifth in the 200 backstroke in 2:00.48 and eighth in the 100 backstroke in 54.82 while clocking a 25.06 split in the backstroke as SDSU placed fifth in the 200 medley relay with a 1:39.26.
In a 108-97 dual win over Iowa Central on Oct. 15, Benson finished fourth in the 100 backstroke in 54.56 and eighth in the 200 individual medley in 2:09.00 while swimming a 55.31 backstroke leg on the Jackrabbits’ 400 medley relay team that took fifth in 3:41.26.
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Fritze was the runner-up in the 1-meter with 264.40 points and 3-meter with 275.05 points as SDSU defeated St. Thomas 183-115 and lost to the University of Minnesota 203-87 in a triangular meet on Oct. 28. Benson finished ninth in both the 100 backstroke (in 54.75) and 200 backstroke (in 2:01.40) while swimming an exhibition time of 2:06.92 in the 200 individual medley. Benson also clocked a 25.54 in the backstroke as SDSU took eighth in the 200 medley relay in 1:39.15.
At the Coyote Extravaganza on Nov. 4-5, SDSU defeated Augustana 145-72 and St. Thomas 123.50-91.50 while losing to St. Cloud State 148-74 and South Dakota 126-85 on Day 1. On Day 2, the Jackrabbits defeated Augustana 147-70 and St. Thomas 135-84 while losing to South Dakota 128.50-82.50 and St. Cloud State 146-77. Fritze took first on 3-meter with 286.00 points and second on 1-meter with 249.00 points. Benson competed in five events, placing 12th in the 200 backstroke in 2:02.03 and 13th in the 100 backstroke in 54.85 while swimming on three relays with a 55.57 backstroke split in the 400 medley relay that took 10th in 3:36.69, a 22.59 split on the 200 freestyle relay that placed 10th in 1:28.64 and a 25.37 split in the backstroke on the 200 medley relay team that finished 11th in 1:38.76.
Fritze won both diving events with 287.10 points in 1-meter and 291.00 points in 3-meter in SDSU’s 156.30-141.50 win over Omaha on Nov. 11. Benson took fifth in the 100 backstroke in 54.29, sixth in the 200 backstroke in 2:02.04 and seventh in the 200 individual medley in 2:06.65.
Benson competed in seven events at the Augustana Invitational on Nov. 17-19 as SDSU topped the five-team field with 1,784 points. Benson finished fifth in the 100 backstroke in 50.86 after going 51.60 for ninth place in the prelims, fifth in the 200 backstroke in 1:54.77 after going 1:54.14 for eighth place in prelims, 20th in the 200 individual medley in 2:09.30 after going 1:58.01 for 17th in prelims and 20th in the 100 freestyle in 48.78. Benson also swam on the Jackrabbits’ 400 medley relay (with a 51.24 split in the backstroke) that went 3:24.25 and 400 freestyle relay (with a 47.36 split) that went 3:07.20 to finished sixth in both races while clocking a 23.83 split in the backstroke on the 200 medley relay that took seventh in 1:33.29. Fritze won the 3-meter diving event with 279.75 points.
SDSU topped St. Cloud State 162.50-137.50 in a dual meet on Jan. 13 with Fritze winning both diving events with 308.55 points in 1-meter and 293.55 points in 3-meter. Benson was fourth in the 200 backstroke in 1:59.10 and fifth in the 100 backstroke in 54.45 while clocking a 25.36 split in the backstroke on the 200 medley relay that took seventh in 1:40.78.
In a 177-110 dual victory over South Dakota on Jan. 21, Fritze again took first in both diving events with 272.70 points on the 1-meter board and 293.33 points on the 3-meter board. Benson finished fifth in the 200 backstroke in 2:01.01 while swimming exhibition in the 100 backstroke (53.40) and 200 individual medley (2:06.37).
The Jackrabbits concluded the regular season at the University of South Dakota Invitational on Feb. 3-4. Fritze was the champion on both the 1-meter with 262.00 points and 3-meter with 271.25 points while Benson placed 10th in the 400 individual medley in 4:21.36, 18th in the 100 freestyle in 49.30 and 23rd in the 100 individual medley in 55.44 while tying for 33rd in the 50 freestyle in 22.28.
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