11-time NCC champ Weiss earns Hall of Fame nod

One of the most decorated men’s swimmers in South Dakota history is headed to the Henry Heider Coyote Sports Hall of Fame.

Zach Weiss, a 2000 graduate, is part of a strong 2021 Hall of Fame class that includes two past stars on the hardwood, a 21-time All-American and a Rimington Award winner. 

Weiss, a 15-time NCAA All-American and 11-time North Central Conference champion from Omaha, Nebraska, will be inducted during ceremonies on Friday, Sept. 10, inside the Muenster University Center on campus.

Weiss becomes the third member from the 1998-99 men’s team that won the NCC title and placed third at the NCAA’s to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He will join former teammates Justin Devlin and Shad Durham. That third place finish is the highest finish in South Dakota swimming and diving history.

The 1998-99 men’s team, coached by Ron Allen, had a strong final day push to win the North Central Conference meet in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and then shocked much of the nation by finishing third at the NCAA Division II national championship meet held in Buffalo, New York.

At the time, the third-place finish was the highest ever for an NCC member. The Coyotes scored 281 points in New York, trailing only Drury (829) and Cal State Bakersfield (557).

South Dakota overcame NCC nemesis North Dakota first at the NCC meet by six points and then at the NCAA meet by 54 points. The Coyotes trailed by 47 points entering the third and final day at the NCC meet before rallying to claim the school’s second league title in a three-year span.

“We had a lot of really good teammates, a lot of really good swimmers on that team,” said Weiss. “It’s probably the year I remember the best.”

Weiss placed second at nationals in the 50 free, setting a new school record of 20.28 in the prelims. He added a fourth-place finish in the 100 free and swam on all five Coyote relays that all placed in the top seven. He led off a third-place 200 free relay that posted a school-record 1:23.08 and he anchored a national runner-up 400 medley relay quartet that also closed in a new school record in 3:24.49.

Weiss closed out his Coyote career holding two individual and three relay school records along with two individual and one relay NCC meet marks. 

At the North Central Conference meet, the Coyotes led by two points after day one as Weiss won the 50 free and swam a new NCC meet record 20.45 in the prelims. However, North Dakota had opened a 47-point edge heading into the third and final day of the meet.

Weiss, though, won the 100 free in 45.69 on the meet’s final day, setting a new NCC meet record of 45.55 in the prelims. Devlin won the 200 breaststroke and Weiss helped South Dakota hold off North Dakota to claim the title with a strong finish in the meet’s final event, the 400 free relay. 

“I just remember building a lot of relationships with that team,” said Weiss. “As a swimmer, we stayed on campus over spring break, we didn’t get to travel (anywhere). You spend a lot of time with the team, and you’re kind of like family when you are there.”

Weiss had a stellar junior season in ’98 as well, winning four NCC titles among his seven top-eight finishes, and the former Omaha Burke prep would finish as the national runner-up in the 50 free for the second straight season. The Coyotes finished sixth at the NCAA Division II national meet in Canton, Ohio, scoring 209.5 points.

His sophomore season, he helped South Dakota secure its first-ever North Central Conference title, ending North Dakota’s 11-year reign. The margin of victory was just 17 points during the 1997 season. Weiss had a strong NCC meet that year as well, winning the first of three consecutive 50 free titles while also swimming on winning relays, the 200, 400 and 800 free. 

South Dakota would go on to finish seventh at the NCAA Division II national meet in San Antonio, Texas, scoring 176 points. Weiss placed fourth in the 50 free, which was the highest individual placing male South Dakota swimmer at the national meet at the time. He also teamed with Tony Snow, James Loewenberg and Derek Dunlop on a national runner-up 400 free relay. 

Weiss, who swam on three state title winning teams at Burke while in high school, had an atypical freshman season for South Dakota. He didn’t qualify for the national meet, but did compete at the NCC meet in Grand Forks that season.

“We had some really good upperclassmen when I was a freshman,” Weiss said. I didn’t qualify for nationals, but I did go to the NCC meet. Sophomore year is when I started to see some major success at the NCC meet and NCAA’s.”

Weiss, along with his wife, Sabrina, and two children, Cooper and Kenzie, make their home in Omaha where he is a spinal and biologics sales consultant at Medtronic.