NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College women's swimming & diving team picked a perfect way to celebrate Senior Day at Thorpe Pool as the Knights edged cross-town rival St. Olaf College, 154-146, in the final dual meet of the season.
 
"We knew coming into today's meet, there would be a need for big team energy in order to elevate the effort levels that would be needed to race and dive against St. Olaf at the highest levels possible," said Carleton head coach Andy Clark. "Both Carleton squads fully delivered to this end, and this is exactly the kind of momentum that we wanted to have as we head toward our peak meets next weekend and then at MIAC's. Despite the fact we are still pushing hard training and there is quite a bit of fatigue, the teams showed a lot of resolve and focus to strongly close out their events."
 
Prior to the first event of the day, the Knights celebrated the nine seniors on the women's roster: Sophie Baggett (La Crosse, Wis./Logan), Lillian Berets (Boulder, Colo./Fairview), Raine Bernhard (Champaign, Ill./University), Lindsay Boettiger (Austin, Texas/Westlake), Maddie Damberg-Ott (London, Great Britain/Channing School), Anna Halladay (Burlington, Vt./Burlington), Kristin Hultgren (Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek), Julia Luljak (Baltimore, Md./Park School), and Anna Neiman-Golden (New York, N.Y./Saint Ann's School)
 
One competition began, those tracking the team scores saw the Knights build a lead only to have the Oles respond and tighten things up again. This pattern played out multiple times throughout the afternoon, setting the stage for a dramatic final swim.
 
"I want to thank and congratulate our senior class for a wonderful four years of swimming and diving," Clark said. "Each of them has made our program better and their leadership has been a driving force for our program this year."
 
Brenna Russell (Jr./Andover, Minn./Andover) notched Carleton's first team points of the day as she won the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 227.65. She later earned the top spot on 3-meter board with a total of 216.25 points.
 
The first race of the day went into the Knights column as Damberg-Ott, Elizabeth Chatard, Isabelle Riley (So./Singapore/Singapore American School), and Bernhard combined on a winning time of 1:51.80 in the 400-yard medley relay.
 
After St. Olaf won two events, Damberg-Ott put Carleton back in front after taking first in the 100-yard backstroke (1:01.24). She later registered a more than six-second margin of victory (2:12.89) in the 200-yard backstroke.
 
Luljak edged Chatard for the top spot in the 100-yard breaststroke, 1:10.15 to 1:10.34. That same duo later finished 1-2 once again, this time in the 200-yard breaststroke at 2:31.29 and 2:34.72.
 
Zoe Morton (Fy./Chicago, Ill./Univ. of Chicago Laboratory School) and Bernhard led a 1-2-3-4-5 finish for Carleton in the 50-yard freestyle as they reached the wall at 25.72 and 25.73, respectively.
 
Carleton led 148-135 going into the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Knights needed to place at least second in order to capture the team victory, and that is exactly where the quartet of Bernahrd, Luljak, Eleanor Hebard (Fy./Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap), and Morton finished with a time of 3:48.41. That was enough to secure the 154-146 dual meet result.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will race at the Minnesota Challenge at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center on Feb. 3-4. The divers will host a pod of teams at the Dodd Diving Invite on Saturday, Feb. 4.