NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The swimmers on the Carleton College women's swimming & diving team sit second out of nine squads after the first day of competition at the Pioneer Invite in Grinnell, Iowa. Elsewhere, the Knight divers are at the Rochester Invite this weekend.
 
Zoe Morton (Fy./Chicago, Ill./Univ. of Chicago Laboratory School), Eleanor Hebard (Fy./Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap), Sophie Baggett (Sr./La Crosse, Wis./Logan), and Raine Bernhard (Sr./Champaign, Ill./University) got the weekend started off with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay. They combined on a time of 1:41.16.
 
The Knights had six other top-10 performances on Friday evening.
 
Julia Luljak (Sr./Baltimore, Md./Park School) took second of 57 racers in the 500-yard freestyle. She reached the wall at 5:24.95, good for an 11.5-second drop from her seed time. Stephanie Baranov (Fy./Streamwood, Ill./Hoffman Estates)took fourth in the same event after turning in a time of 5:33.00, which was 18 seconds better than her seed time.
 
Luljak placed eighth out of 36 competitors in the 200-yard IM. She clocked a time of 2:20.80.
 
Morton and Bernhard finished third and eighth, respectively, out of 76 entrants in the 50-yard freestyle. They posted season-best times of 25:10 and 25.70.
 
The 400-yard medley relay was the final event of Friday's session. Maddie Damberg-Ott (Sr./London, Great Britain/Channing School), Elizabeth Chatard (So./San Anselmo, Calif./Sir Francis Drake), Baggett, and Morton combined on a time of 4:11.26, good for third place.
 
Carleton did not have any divers advance to the finals on the 3-meter board.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will be busy again on Saturday. Day two of racing at the Pioneer Invite will begin at 9:00 a.m. There will be a mid-day session that includes the 1650-yard freestyle beginning at 1:00 p.m. with the third and final session of the meet slated to start at 5:00 p.m.