Women’s Cross Country
The Knights claimed the DIII NCAA Cross Country title on Nov. 18, completing an undefeated season and becoming only the second team in Carleton history to win a national title. They were the first in 23 years after the men’s cross country team in 1980, and the first women’s team title in school history. The Knights scored 151 points to beat No. 1- ranked NYU by three points. The top four teams were separated by just seven points, a DIII Women’s XC record. Hannah Preisser ’26 led the team with a 14th place finish, claiming top-15 All-American honors for the second year in a row. Phoebe Ward ’24 followed close behind with a breakout race in 16th place, earning All-American honors for the first time in her career. Helen Cross ’24 just missed All-American in 41st place, as did Aliya Larsen ’26 who placed 46th for the best race of her cross country career. Sophie McManus ’25 closed out scoring in 62nd place as the best fifth runner of the race, just 48 seconds behind Preisser. Mary Blanchard ’24 placed 115th and Libby Rowland was 221st. Nora Daley ’27 was the alternate. Head coach Donna Ricks received USTFCCCA DIII Coach of the Year honors for the first time in her career, becoming the first woman in 25 years to receive the plaudit.
Men’s Cross Country
The Knights matched their pre-championship with a 28th place finish at the NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships on Nov.18, matching their ranking with a scoring spread of just 24 seconds, the best of any team in the race. Roy Llewyn ’26 led the team with a 129th place finish, closely followed by Gabe Nichols ’26 in 134th. Chris Melville ’24 finished in 164th, Indy Lyness ’26 outkicked 42 people in the last 2 kilometers to finish 173rd. Henry Bowman ’24 closed out scoring with a 196th place finish. Josh Meier ’25 and Ryan Bernstein ’26 ran together and placed 289th and 292nd.
Men’s Basketball
The (7-5, 4-3 MIAC) Knights lost a close game to St. John’s on November 21st, scoring 72 points to the Johnnies’ 74, in a game highlighted by Luke Harris ’25’s career-high 31 points and Matt Banovetz ’24’s 13 points and nine rebounds. Then, the team traveled to California to play two games against Pomona-Pitzer (Nov. 21) and No. 23 CMS (Nov. 24), losing by three points with a total of 64 to the former and winning 83-75 against the latter. Harris nearly recorded a double-double in the first game while Banovetz recorded 19 points in the first game. Harris made 29 points, and Banovetz scored 15 points to lead the team to earn MIAC Offensive Player of the Week. Banovetz also earned MIAC Defensive Player of the Week and a place on the D3Hoops.com weekly team for his efforts. The Knights then notched conference wins against St. Olaf and St. Scholastica and a loss against Bethany Lutheran to finish their Winter Break campaign. They began 2024 with a win against Hamline and losses against Bethany Lutheran and Concordia-Moorhead.
Football
Ntense Obono ’25, Micheal Cary ’24 and Henry Detmer ’24 were named to the D3Football.com All-Region second team while Isaac Simons ’24 made the third team. Obono was named to the D3Football.com All-American team for his efforts over the season.
Men’s Soccer
Alexander Grosse ’26, Justin Crawmer ’24, Ben Pennell ’26, Owen Flanagan ’24, Jonathan Vonderlage ’26 and Trevor Jones ’24 all earned CSC Academic All-District honors by way of a 3.5+ GPA and participation in 90% or more of the team’s games throughout the season. Crawmer, Jones and Pennell were all named to the All-Region IX First Team as well. Crawmer was named First-Team All-American by the United Soccer Coaches Association on November 30th as one of four defenders on the first team.
Women’s Soccer
Cate Patterson ’24, Casey MacVeigh ’24, Piper Dean ’25, Thea Traw ’25, Ashlyn Haigh ’26 and Kathryn Kreese ’26 all earned CSC Academic All-District honors by way of a 3.5+ GPA and participation in 90% or more of the team’s games throughout the season. Patterson earned First-Team All-Region IX recognition alongside Dean while Kreese earned Second Team All-Region IX honors. Dean was named First-Team All-American while Patterson earned Second-Team honors. Patterson is the first offensive player in school history to be named All-American honors. The team’s defense ended the season ranked 10th in the nation.
Women’s Swimming and Diving
The Knights got firsthand championship format experience at the Rochester Invitational on Dec. 1 and 2. The divers placed the highest out of all Carleton competitors with Brenna Russell ’24 placing second in the one-meter diving event with a finals total of 396.9, with Hailey Westrup ’27 placing fourth in the same event. Russell also placed 13th in the three-meter diving event with 324.65 points. Emma Yao ’27 finished ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:08.45), 14th in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:34.29), and eight and a finals spot in the 100-yard IM (1:02.7). Grace Hou ’27 came 10th in the 100-yard butterfly (60.1) and 13th in the 100-yard IM (1:03.09). Hou also placed 17th in the 100-yard backstroke, winning the “C” final with a time of 57.75, which would have placed her fourth in the “A” final. Jenna Drummond ’25 was 12th in the 200-yard IM in a time of 2:25.57. She, Hou, Caroline Crampton ’25 and Yao placed sixth in the 400-medley relay in a time of 4:01.09 to lead the team’s relays. Crampton made the final in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing eighth in 2:19.3. Stephanie Baranov ’26 was 14th in the 1650-yard freestyle in 18:57.76.
Men’s Swimming and Diving
The Knights got firsthand championship format experience at the Rochester Invitational on Dec.1 and 2. Hans Anderson ’26 placed second on the three-meter diving event with 411.3 points and fifth on the one-meter board with 420.2 points. Nicholas Chang ’26 placed 14th in the 200-yard IM (2:00.90), ninth in the 200-yard backstroke (1:57.18), and 10th in the 400-yard IM (4:19.32). Ian Scott ’24 finished 15th in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:01.16 and 12th in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:00.02. Sam Glaubiz ’24 swam 4:54.66 to finish 14th in the 500-meter freestyle. Josh Wu ’24 placed 15th in the 100-yard IM (54.92) and 12th in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:46.38. Alex Lee ’27 was 13th in the 400-yard IM in 4:25.34. John Rosseel swam 4:25.41 for 14th in the 400-yard IM and 17:23.33 for 9th in the 1650-yard freestyle. Byron Jia ’24 was 11th in the same event in 17:30.59. Jackson Rankin ’27 swam 51.97 for 10th in the 100-yard butterfly and made the finals of the 200-yard butterfly, placing eighth with 1:59.59. Ethan Tun ’25 won the “B” final of the 100-yard backstroke in 52.58 and joined Scott, Wu, and Glaubitz to finish 10th in the 800-yard freestyle relay in 7:06.64.