VERMILLION, S.D.—Sophomore Zach Kopp's Summit League Championship performance topped the fan vote for the 2020-21 Performance of the Year in the digital version of The Charlies, the athletic department's annual award ceremony. It is the second year in a row that fans have voted on this award.
 
Kopp, who was named South Dakota Athlete of the Year Friday, won five gold medals – two individual and three as a relay member – at the Summit League meet held in Fargo, North Dakota, in April. That performance helped propel his team to its first Summit League Swimming and Diving Championship.
 
Hailing from Otsego, Minnesota, Kopp won the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke at the meet. He also was a member of the first-place finishing 200-yard freestyle relay, 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay teams. He added more points to the team tally with a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.
 
Kopp's performance was chosen out of a total of six nominees. Others considered included volleyball's and women's basketball's performances at the Summit League Tournament, A.J. Plitzuweit's 37-point outburst in a home win against Oral Roberts on the hardwood, Zack Anderson leaping the Olympic standard in the high jump, and the women's 1,600-meter relay win at the Summit outdoor championship meet.