NORTHFIELD, Minn. –
Maddie Damberg-Ott (Jr./London, Great Britain/Channing School) won two individual events and the Knights won two relays as the Carleton College women's swimming & diving team took part in its annual Senior Day dual meet with crosstown foe St. Olaf College. The Knights may have come up short on the scoreboard, 160-140, but there was plenty to celebrate throughout the day.
"Today's meet had a lot of importance for both of our teams, both in terms of having the chance to race one last time before our final taper meets and also in terms of having the chance to recognize and celebrate our senior class," said Carleton head coach
Andy Clark. "This dual meet has proven to bring out the best from both schools, and we knew going into this meet, we were going to need every point to have a chance to win. Our men's team showed a lot of strength and depth across most every event, and while the women came up a few points short, it was not due to any lack of effort, and we definitely had plenty of swims and dives that brought out season-best performances.
"Ultimately, a great day of racing for both squads, and it was a special day to celebrate our seniors and pay tribute to all the leadership and positive energy that they have given to this program over the last four years."
The 12 seniors on the Carleton women's team include:
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Lydia Boyum (Sr./Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson)
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Alison Cameron (Sr./Reno, Nev./Reno)
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Becca Horwitz (Sr./Brooklyn , N.Y./Packer Collegiate Institute)
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Kapani Kirkland (Sr./Mendota Heights, Minn./Convent of the Visitation)
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Natalie Lafferty (Sr./Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley)
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Serena Lee (Sr./Muscat, Oman/The American International School of Muscat)
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Yuki Nagaoka (Sr./Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley)
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Claire Neid (Sr./Denver, Colo./George Washington)
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Izzy Quattrucci (Sr./Madison, Wis./Madison East)
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Madi Smith (Sr./Denver, Colo./Denver School of Science and Technology-Stapleton)
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Andrea Tartaglia (Sr./Newton, Mass./Newton South)
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Emma Wrigley (Sr./Anchorage, Alaska/Robert Service)
The Knights opened the competition with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay. Boyum,
Elizabeth Chatard (Fy./San Anselmo, Calif./Archie Williams), Lafferty, and
Raine Bernhard (Jr./Champaign, Ill./University High School) combined on a season-best time of 1:53.10.
Damberg-Ott posted a pair of season bests as she won both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke races, reaching the wall at 1:01.99 and 2:13.67, respectively.
Carleton's other triumph capped the day as Bernhard, Lee,
Sammi Sheridan (So./Madison, Wis./Memorial), and Neid collectively posted a time of 1:43.94.
Additionally,
Brenna Russell (So./Andover, Minn./Andover) scored 398.80 in the 11-dive competition on the 1-meter diving board, good for her first qualifying standard of the season. She will need a second qualifying score on the lower board in order to be eligible for the NCAA Diving Regional at the end of February.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will take part in the Minnesota Challenge meet on Feb. 4-5 at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center. Meanwhile, the Knights will host the Dodd Road Diving Invitational on Feb. 5 at Thorpe Pool.
