<rleton men concluded their swimming season last weekend at the University of Minnesota Aqautic Center with the MIAC Championship meet. The Knights fought through the three-day, six-session meet from Thursday to Saturday and walked away with exceptional performances across the board and an overwhelming number of season and lifetime bests. The team finished in fifth with 471 points, well ahead of sixth-place Macalester at 149 and less than a hundred points behind fourth-place Saint John’s.
Day One included the 500 freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, and 50-yard freestyle with impressive performances by Erik Klontz ’13 in the 50 and Andrew Mering ‘11 in the 200 IM. On the boards, Eric Brenner ’11 won the 1-meter, setting a strong tone for the team’s first day of competition, while Chris Frills ’13 dove at his first conference meet and placed in the top 16.
Friday was a bigger day for the Knights. Highlights include Mamoru Kanazawa ’13 in the 200-yard freestyle, Mering in the 100 back, Ethan Sagin ‘13 and Benito Ramirez ’14 in the 100 fly, and Andrew Hardt ’13 in the 400 IM.
On day three Mering and Tom Holmes ’13 scored in the 200-yard backstroke while Brian Kilgour ‘11, Ramirez, and Sagin all placed in the top eight of the 100-yard butterfly. Ranked fourth overall after the morning qualifying session, Brenner stole the show at night on the 3-meter board with another first place finish.
Several individual swims and relays from the men’s squad made NCAA National consideration times over the course of the meet. Klontz got a B-cut in the 50-yard freestyle, after time trialing and competing in the event several times. Kanazawa made a consideration time in the 200-yard freestyle. The men’s 800-freestyle relay of Mering, Kilgour, Kanazawa, Ramirez also are in consideration for the Nationals meet.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this season’s conference championship was the number of Carleton team records broken along the way. Mering broke the school record in the 200 back and was part of three record-breaking relays as well. The 400-yard freestyle (Mering, Kanazawa, Ramirez, Klontz), 800-yard freestyle (Ramirez, Kanazawa, Mering, Kilgour), and 200-yard freestyle (Kanazawa, Klontz, Cormier, Mering) relays all smashed the previous school records.
The team earned a few recognitions outside of the pool as well, as Brenner was recognized as MIAC diver of the meet, and coaches and captain honored Casey Andree ’12 as sportsman of the season.
As the season draws to a close for most athletes and other conference meets across the country wrap up, those Knights with NCAA consideration times wait in anticipation to see if they will be headed to Tennessee over spring break. And as most athletes look toward the next season, the seniors of this year’s squad end their impressive Carleton swimming careers on a sweet, history-making note with this one last impressive season. The seniors that finished their career last weekend include Brenner, Peter Cormier, Ken Ellis-Guardiola, Hugh Gallagher, Kilgour, Mering. Mark Olson, and Jabir Yusoff.
Ben Bedore is a member of the men’s swim team.