Recaps, schedules and live results can be found at https://athletics.carleton.edu.
Women’s Cross Country
Number 12 in the country and number one in the north region, the defending NCAA champions, the Knights opened their season at the Rivertown Invitational in Prescott, Wisconsin, with a first-place finish on September 7. The Knights tied Division II team Minnesota-Duluth with 30 points but won the tiebreak. Hannah Preisser ’26 led a 1-3 sweep, running a time of 21:55.0. It was her first collegiate cross country victory. Sophie McManus ran 22:10.0 for second, and Aliya Larsen ’26 finished third in a time of 22:35.5. Lara Erickson ’25 and Libby Rowland ’25 closed out scoring in 11th and 13th place, with Katie Hirsche ’25 finishing 18th and Kayla Marx ’28 finishing 21st to close out the top seven. Maggie Vortruba ’25 was just behind Marx in 23rd, and Clara Felt ’28 finished 41st for her first collegiate race. Preisser earned MIAC Athlete of the Week honors for her performance, the third of her career.
Sept. 21 brought another team victory at the St. Olaf Invitational, with the team scoring 35 points to beat the host team. Preisser and McManus took another individual one-two finish, with Preisser running a time of 21:57.8 and McManus clocking 22:05.8. Larsen placed fourth with a time of 22:39.1. Erickson ran well, placing 12th with a time of 23:45.6, with Nora Daley ’26 coming in right behind in 16th place, running 23:50.9. Rowland was sixth on the team in 29th place, running 24:19.9, and Marx was the team’s seventh runner with a time of 24:38.7. Preisser earned MIAC Athlete of the Week once again with her second cross country title.
Men’s Cross Country
The Knights, 29th at the NCAA Championships last season, opened their season with a fifth-place finish on August 30 at the Montana State Bobcat Twilight Invitational in Bozeman, Montana. The course was a five-kilometer length, a step down from the usual eight-kilometer distance. The team scored 125 points, led by Roy Llewelyn ’26 who ran 15:17.20, with Gabe Nichols ’26 also breaking 16 minutes, placing 25th with a time of 15:43.90. The next three finishers were only seconds apart: Travis Brown ’28 in 41st with a time of 16:24.40, Josh Meier ’25 in 48th with 16:45.90, and Kyle Thompson placing 50th with 16:48.40. Llewelyn earned the MIAC Athlete of the Week award.
The Knights placed sixth at the St. Olaf Invitational, scoring 224 points: Llewelyn led the team in 15th place with a time of 26:07.5. Ryan Bernstein ’26 placed 56th with 27:23.2, Brown placed 61st with 27:31.1, Torte Tortenson ’27 placed 70th,with 27:43.3, Meier ran 27:59.7 for 81st and Ravi Achar ’28 finished 83rd two seconds later.
Women’s Soccer
The (7-1-1, 2-0-0 MIAC) are having the best start in program history. The Knights took a 1-0 win at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan on August 30. Kathryn Kreese ’26 scored the winning goal, with Chloe Simianek ’26 providing the assist. The Knights beat Albion College 8-1 on September 1, with Kreese scoring a hat trick, alongside a goal each from Hadley Twitchell ’26, Dylan Baker ’26, Piper Dean ’25 and Isabelle Connolly ’27. The Knights then defeated Hope College 1-0 on September 2, with Kreese scoring her fifth goal of the season and Avery Trapp ’27 blocking a penalty shot to save the win. Trapp earned MIAC Defensive Player of the Week laurels for her efforts, and Kreese earned the MIAC Defensive Player of the Week award. The team defeated Wartburg 3-1 on September 11, beat the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on September 14, tied Simpson College 3-3 on September 15 (coming back from a three-goal deficit), won against Gustavus Adolphus College on September 15 and blanked Concordia-Moorhead 2-0 on September 21. Kreese scored in the first five matches and scored seven times. Baker scored the second game-winner of her career and has three goals on the season, while Twitchell also has three goals on the season. The Knights’ first loss came on September 23 against number 16 Loras College, losing 0-1.
Men’s Soccer
The number 21 Knights (5-1-3, 1-0-1), who made it to the second round in the NCAA Championships last fall, took a 3-1 win at home against Bethany Lutheran College on August 30. Briggs Priem ’26 scored two goals, getting assists from Willan Schrok ’27 and Danny Ortiz ’28. Priem assisted Blake Jones ’25 in his goal. The Knights then tied Augustana College on September 1, with backup goalie Leo Kugel ’26 receiving his first career shutout. The team drew 0-0 against the University of Wisconsin-Superior on September 6, shut out the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on September 11, tied 1-1 against Grinnell College on September 14 (with Owen Flanagan ’25 scoring the game-saving goal), lost 0-1 to number 6 Gustavus Adolphus College on September 17, beat Concordia-Moorhead College on September 21 and beat Simpson College 4-1. The Simpson College game was head coach Bob Carlson’s 300th career win in his 28 year career.
Volleyball
The Knights (4-1-3, 1-1 MIAC) opened their season with two wins and two losses at the Rosalie Reach Invitational in Chicago, Illinois, on August 30 and 31. They beat Lawrence University 3-0 on August 30 before losing to North Central (Ill.) 0-3. Ellewyn Swafford ’28, Kerrigan Candra ’25, Sylvia Dixon ’26 and Megan Smith ’27 all had stellar performances. They defeated Alma College 3-2 and lost to the University of Chicago 2-3 on the second day of competition. September 6 and 7 brought the Sugar Loaf Classic and three wins. They beat Luther College 5-2, Buena Vista College 3-0, and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 3-2. Dixon earned MIAC Offensive Athlete of the Week honors after averaging 13 kills over four games and totaled a career-high 22 kills against Luther. The Knights beat North Central 3-0 on September 11, lost to Minnesota-Morris 0-3 on September 13 and split a pair of games (falling to the University of Wisconsin-Superior 1-3 and defeating Grinnell College 3-1) on September 14.
Women’s Golf
The number 16 Knights placed third at the D3 Central Region Preview on September 7 and 8, with an overall total of 630 or 54-over-par. Cynthia Lu ’26 led the team with a sixth-place finish and a seven-over-par total of 151 over 18 holes. Mindy Zhai ’27 finished 15th with a +14 total of 158, Anna Lee ’28 tied for 16th with a +15-over-par total of 159 as an individual player, Sarah Zheng ’26 placed 19th with a total of 160, and Natalie Tatar ’26 tied for 20th with 162. Olivia Siebert ’25 tied for 25th with 163.
The Knights tied MIAC foe Bethel University for first place at the D3 Classic in Hastings, Minnesota on September 21 and 22, with a total score of 608. Lu placed third as an individual, with a three-over-par score of 147 for 18 holes. Carter Sichol ’26 finished one spot behind her in third with a five-over-par 149. Zhai tied for ninth at 153, Lee placed 11th as an individual with 154, and Zheng tied for 25th with a 161.
Men’s Golf
The Knights placed a strong fifth at the Minnesota Golf Classic in Maple Plain, MN on September 7 and 8, playing against Division I players but not teams. They scored 904 strokes over three rounds as a team. Ryan Choi ’25 tied for 10th with a total of 218 shots, or two-over-par. Sam Higaki ’27 scored a six-over-par 222 for a tie for 25th. Justin Rodriguez ’27 carded a 13-over-par 229 for a tie for 46th, Dillon Croco ’28 finished in sixty-sixth with an 18-over-par 234 as an independent entrant, and Gordon Walker ’26 finished one stroke behind him in sixty-seventh place.
September 21 and 22 brought a dual match against number 24 Gustavus Adolphus College, sans their top golfers, with the Knights scoring 573 strokes over two days. Rodriguez won the event with a seven-under-par 137, Higaki scored a seven-under-par 179 for second, and Choi started with a tournament low of 66 and wound up fourth with a two-under-par 142. Walker finished fifth with a 146, and Dillon Croco ’28 tied for ninth with 152.
Football
The (1-1) Knights opened their season with a 28-12 loss to Pomona-Pitzer College on September 8. Cooper Long ’26 and Ntense Obono ’25 scored touchdowns. Long earned the MIAC Special Team Athlete of the Week award. The Knights defeated the University of Minnesota-Morris 28-7 at home on September 21, with Jack Curtis ’26 scoring three touchdowns.
Women’s Tennis
The Knights opened their season on September 22 at the ITA Midwest Regional in St. Peter, Minnesota, with several strong finishes. Piper Brown ’25 made it to the quarterfinals as a singles competitor, Kiley Pickens ’27 made it to the fourth round, and Zoe Rose ’25 and Miriam Shteyman ’25 made it to the third round. Amelia Asfaw ’25 and Mariam Nechipourouk ’25 were semifinalists in doubles after coming in as the number 1 seed, while Ryann Witter ’27 and Ingrid Smith ’25 made it to the second round. September 24 brought a dual match against Hamline University, which the Knights won 7-0. Asfaw and Nechipourouk, Smith and Witter, and Rose and Shteyman won their doubles matches, Brown, Witter, Kat Smirchinski ’27, Clara Mast ’28 and Amanda Black ’25 won their singles matches.
Men’s Tennis
The (1-0, 1-0 MIAC) Knights opened their shortened fall season with a 9-0 win over Concordia-Moorhead College on September 22, in a match featuring five first-years. Jack Rivkin ’26 and Ashkay Garapati ’28 paired up for an 8-4 doubles win, Zach Leslie ’26 and Baiyun Jing ’27 also won 8-4, and Aiden Patel ’28 paired with Ezra Bernhard ’28 for a doubles sweep, winning 8-1. Jasper Yang ’27, Andrew Stretavan ’28, Miles Lee ’28, and Garapati and Bernhard won their singles matches in two sets.
