Former Norwegian national champion and Big Ten standout Kris Jorgensen begins his third season as South Dakota’s diving coach.
During his first season with the Coyotes he was named the 2015-16 Summit League Diving Coach of the Year after leading two divers, Greysen Hertting and Chase Testa, to All-Summit League honors. Under Jorgensen, Hertting won the one- and three-meter diving titles with Testa taking the third-place finish in the one-meter dive. Jorgensen also helped senior Sarah Schank finish fourth in both dives.
Jorgensen coached Hertting to her fourth Diver of the Year award. She is the first Summit League student-athlete to win Diver of the Year four consecutive years and only the third student-athlete in league history to win a yearly award four times.
During the 2016-17 season, Jorgensen helped lead diver sophomore Isaac Morris to his first and Hertting to her fourth NCAA Zone D Diving Championships. The duo helped the women’s and men’s teams place third and fourth, respectively, while also earning All-Summit League honors.
In Jorgensen's 2017-18 campaign, he coached two individuals to Summit League Champion title. Morris captured both the one-meter and the three-meter dives while freshman Haley Pederson took the three-meter with junior Sarah Schank claiming runner-up. Morris was named the Men's Diver of the Championship and Summit League Men's Diver of the Year for his sophomore season. Jorgensen helped lead Morris to his second-consecutive NCAA Zone D Diving Championships and Schank to her first. The three helped the men's and women's team place second and fourth, while earning All-Summit League honors.
Jorgensen spent three years from 2012-15 as the head diving coach at St. Catherine University. He coached several all-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honorees, including two-time all-MIAC Diver of the Year Jenna Nagy. Beyond the collegiate realm, Jorgensen also coached at the Minnesota Diving Academy for three years and founded the Highland Diving Club in 2014.
Jorgensen received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota in 2013. He completed his master's degree in applied sport and exercise science from Minnesota in May of 2015.
As a diver at Minnesota, Jorgensen was the 2012 Big Ten Co-Diver of the Championship after winning the 10-meter dive. He finished runner-up in the event in 2011.
A native of Norway, Jorgensen won 12 national championships and competed for the Norwegian national team from 2004-12. He competed at the 2009 and 2011 World University Games. Jorgensen placed eighth in the 10-meter synchronized event at the 2008 European Championships.
