MINNEAPOLIS – The Carleton College women's swimming & diving team took part in separate competitions on Saturday. The divers hosted a pod of the Dodd Road Diving Invite, while the swimmers raced at the Minnesota Challenge held at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center.
 
Brenna Russell (So./Andover, Minn./Andover) posted an 11-dive score of 411.85 on the 1-meter board, good for her second qualifying standard of the season. That means that she has already punched her ticket to the NCAA Diving Regionals on Feb. 25-26 in Grand Rapids, Mich.
 
Kapani Kirkland (Sr./Mendota Heights, Minn./Convent of the Visitation) continues to build momentum as the season progresses. She and Russell finished 1-2 in the six-dive scoring on the 3-meter board, totaling 243.00 and 225.80 points, respectively. Kirkland was second in the six-dive competition on the lower board at 233.10 points.
 
As for the swimmers, Saturday was broken up into a morning and evening sessions for a total of eight events.
 
"Overall, it was just an outstanding meet for our tapered team members, with most having significant time drops in every event they swam," said Carleton head coach Andy Clark. "The energy and efforts that they gave throughout this meet was incredible, and there is no question that the results that they produced send such a positive message to the rest of the team as they get ready for the MIAC Championships."
 
Carleton's top finish of the weekend came from Julia Luljak (Jr./Baltimore, Md./Park School) in the 200-yard breaststroke as she captured second place—behind only a University of Minnesota (D-I) swimmer—with a season-best time of 2:32.01. Luljak added a seventh-place result in the 400-yard IM (season best 5:03.99) earlier in the day.
 
Maddie Damberg-Ott (Jr./London, Great Britain/Channing School) notched a pair of top-10 results. She was ninth in the 100-yard backstroke with a season-best time of 1:01.82. She came back during the evening session to finish fifth in the 200-yard backstroke as she touched the wall and established a new season best at 2:14.35. Anna Halladay (Jr./Burlington, Vt./Burlington) grabbed 10th in the same event with her season-best time of 2:24.31.
 
Grace Hanson (So./Minnetrista/Mound Westonka) had the Knights' other top-10 result on Saturday, taking ninth place in the 1650-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 19:38.44.
 
Alison Cameron (Sr./Reno, Nev./Reno) was Carleton's top finisher in the 200-yard freestyle, covering the distance in 2:04.20, setting a new season-best mark.
 
Lydia Boyum (Sr./Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson) led the way in the 100-yard freestyle. Her time of 56.74 was 23rd overall and a new season best by more than two seconds.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton enters the taper portion of its season in advance of the MIAC Championships to be held Feb. 16-19 at the U of M Aquatics Center.