Mustang swimming head coach Bryan Farris announced the names of eight recruits who will join the Mustangs for the 2016-17 season.

Morningside head men’s and women’s swimming coach Bryan Farris announced the names of eight male recruits who will join the Mustangs for the 2016-17 season.

The recruiting class includes two athletes who combined to win three of the eight individual events at this past season’s North Dakota High School State Swimming & Diving Meet.

The recruits are:

Kyler Alme of Bismarck, North Dakota, who will compete in the breaststroke and individual medley. Alme is a 2016 graduate of Century High School, where he helped lead the team to four consecutive state championships.

He earned first-team all-state honors and was named the Outstanding Senior Athlete at the North Dakota state meet this past season. Alme won a second consecutive state championship in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 58.01 seconds and finished third in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:59.25. His time in the 100-yard breaststroke was almost three seconds faster than the existing Morningside record of 1:00.93 and his time in the 200-yard individual medley was just off the Mustangs’ school-record of 1:59.08 in the event.

Alme was a state champion in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard medley relay as a junior and was the 100-yard breaststroke state runner-up as a sophomore.

Connor Bjellum, a freestyler from Fargo, N.D. Bjellum is a 2016 graduate of Fargo Oak Grove Lutheran High School. This past season he qualified for state in every individual and relay event while competing for Fargo South-Fargo Shanley-Oak Grove-Park Christian High School and had the state’s fastest qualifying times of 47.20 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle, 1:45.06 in the 200-yard freestyle, and 4:58.66 in the 500-yard freestyle.

Bjellum earned first-team all-state honors and was a state champion in four events at this past seaosn’s North Dakota state meet. He won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.71 seconds, reigned in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:44.56, anchored South Fargo to a state title in the 200-yard medley relay, and swam the third leg for its state championship 400-yard freestyle relay team.

He was a state champion in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly as a junior. Bjellum won state championships in the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard medley relay and placed third in the 100-yard butterfly at the state meet as a sophomore.

Jack Eckstaine of Le Mars, Iowa, who will compete in the breaststroke and freestyle events. Eckstaine is a 2016 graduate of Le Mars Community High School. He competed for the Sioux City High School team.

Michael Fears of Florissant, Mo., who will compete in the breaststroke and freestyle events. Fears is a 2016 graduate of Lutheran North High School.

Cayden Hare of Jamestown, N.D., who will compete in the butterfly and freestyle events. Hare is a 2016 graduate of Jamestown High School, where he earned second-team all-state honors this past season.

Hare placed fourth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 54.75 seconds and eighth in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.28 seconds at this past season’s North Dakota State Swimming & Diving Meet. He helped lead his team to an eighth place finish in the 200-yard medley relay and a ninth place effort in the 200-yard freestyle relay at the state meet.

Jake Kohorst of Elk River, Minn., who will compete in the backstroke and freestyle events. Kohorst is a 2016 graduate of Elk River High School, where he anchored the school to an eighth place finish in the 200-yard medley relay at this past season’s Minnesota prep state meet. He finished 16th in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.88 seconds and helped lead Elk River to a 10th place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay at the state meet.

Billy Salber of Omaha, Neb., who will compete in the butterfly and freestyle events. Salber is a 2016 graduate of Papillion-La Vista High School, where he placed fifth in the 100-yard butterfly at this past season’s Nebraska state meet with a time of 52.45 seconds. Salber finished ninth in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.05 seconds and helped lead Papillion-La Vista to second place finishes in the 200 and 400-yard freestyle relays.

He helped lead Papillion-La Vista to a state runner-up finish in the 200-yard medley relay and a third place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay as a junior. He finished 14th in the 100-yard freestyle and 15th in the 100-yard butterfly with times of 49.65 and 54.38, respectively. Salber finished seventh in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.19 at the state meet and swam for Papillion-La Vista teams that finished third in the 200-yard medley relay, seventh in the 200-yard freestyle relay, and ninth in the 400-yard freestyle relay at the state meet as a sophomore.

Reed Smith of Carroll, Iowa, who will compete in the breaststroke and freestyle events. Smith will join the Mustangs with freshman eligibility as a transfer from Iowa State University. Smith, a 2015 graduate of Carroll Kuemper Catholic High School, competed for Carroll High School during his prep swimming career.