By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
2026 Summit League Championships
Dates: Wednesday, February 18–Saturday, February 21 Location: Campus Recreation & Wellness Center, Iowa City, IA Defending Champions: Denver women (11x); Denver men (10x) Live Results Live Video: Summit League Network Schedule of Events (PDF) Championship Central SwimSwam Fan Guide Teams: Denver, Eastern Illinois, Nebraska-Omaha, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Southern Indiana, St. ThomasDenver has reigned at the top of the Summit League for a decade and look primed to extend their title streaks on both the women’s and men’s side of the meet. The women’s team wasted no time asserting themselves, kicking off night one of the 2026 Summit League Championships by winning both relays on offer.
First, Denver’s quartet of Ali Beay (25.26), Tenaya Winter (28.02), Julia Saxman (23.40), and Isabella Cardenas (22.50) won the opening swimming event, the women’s 200 medley relay, in 1:39.18. The Denver women held the Summit League’s season top time heading into the meet with the 1:40.19 they posted in January. Not only did they beat that mark, but no other school was under their previous season-best as the University of South Dakota took second in 1:40.42.
The junior Winter pulled double relay duty for the Pioneers, leading off this relay in 1:50.78 after swimming breaststroke on the 200 medley relay. She was followed by Samantha Synsvoll (1:48.28), Isabella Burton (1:50.47), and Sabrina Rachjaibun (1:48.19) as the team logged a 7:17.72 for the win. They crushed their previous season-best of 7:25.71 and were the only team to break 7:22.
The University of South Dakota women took second behind the Pioneers in both relays, but still had plenty to celebrate. They finished 1.18 seconds behind the winning Denver squad in the 200 medley relay, but took down their school record in the process of winning silver. Anna Balfanz (25.72), Taylor Buhr (27.64), Lauren Eschmeyer (24.25), and Henley Hatzung (22.75) swam a 1:40.36, breaking their school record by six-hundredths. Later, Gabrielle Ahrendt (1:50.88), Tatum O’Shea (1:49.30), Carson White (1:51.19), and Emily Diprospero (1:51.11) nearly broke another school record for the Coyote women. Their second-place time of 7:22.48 missed the program record by .14 seconds.
On the men’s side, it was the Coyotes that grabbed the opening relay win. Joaquin Contreras-Fallico (22.29), Ethan Labounty (24.14), Dylan Alt (20.70), and Nicholas Rounds (18.57) swam 1:25.70 to win the event. The team dropped 1.47 seconds in order to defend their top seed. There were big drops from seed times throughout the event: second-place Denver (1:26.63) dropped 1.45 seconds, fifth-place Eastern Illinois dropped 1.65, and sixth-place South Dakota State hacked 3.92 seconds off their entry.
Denver took control in the men’s 800 freestyle relay, winning by over a second with two freshmen holding down the middle 400 yards. South Dakota led through the first exchange thanks 1:39.02 lead-off from sophomore James Schreiber, but then the Pioneers got to work. Junior Matija Pantic kept it close with a 1:39.84 lead-off, and then the freshmen Kurt Owens (1:37.45) and Pierce Bickerton (1:36.91) steadily built a lead. Senior Dylan Mes anchored Denver in 1:37.64, stopping the clock in 6:31.84 as South Dakota took second in 6:33.10. Bickerton’s split was the fastest of the session.
Diving events also got underway this evening. Omaha sophomore Owen Kipp won the 1-meter diving title with 323.35 points. His season-best effort is a 331.00 from October. He beat Denver freshman Trip Gregory for the title by 6.5 points.
Team Scores
Note: Live Stats are only showing combined team scores and MeetMobile is showing no scores at all. Through the first session, the Denver women are in the lead. The Denver and South Dakota men each took a first and second place in the relays but the Pioneers are up on the Coyotes courtesy of a 2-3-6 finish on the 1-meter board.
Combined Team Scores
Denver, 200 Nebraska-Omaha, 180 South Dakota, 166 St. Thomas MN, 127 Southern Indiana, 124 South Dakota State, 114 Eastern Illinois, 100Read the full story on SwimSwam: Denver Women Sweep Relay Session To Open 2026 Summit League Championships
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