<ck Dalluge (So./Waverly, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) touched the wall first as anchor of the Knight’s 200-yard freestyle relay, the Carleton College men’s swimming team claimed a historic 145-138 victory over rival St. Olaf College. This was the first time in head coach Andy Clark’s 25-year tenure that the Knights beat the Oles in a dual meet.
Meanwhile, the Carleton women rallied in the final event to earn a 150-150 tie with St. Olaf.
“What a great final dual meet of the season for both our squads,” said Clark. “Beating a class program like St. Olaf was an incredible feat for our guys especially since it is the first time this has occurred in our program’s history since I have been at Carleton. Really proud about how they rallied and rose up to the challenge. To have the meet come down to the last relay was incredible.
“While our ladies tied St. Olaf, they battled hard for every point and had to pull through some big swims at the end of the meet. Really thrilled and proud of how well both teams responded today. We knew that both teams would have to be on fire to have a chance to challenge the St. Olaf teams for top honors today, and the end result was about as good as you could ask for in terms of the energy and efforts that were given by our teams.”
Unlike previous years, the Carleton men do not have a diver on this year’s roster, so the Knights entered the meet essentially trailing St. Olaf by 22 points. It took until the final event, but Carleton was able to erase the deficit.
Dalluge was the first event winner for the Knights, reaching the wall first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:46.58.
Andrew Chang (Fy./Vancouver, Wash./Union) tripled up once again, providing Carleton with crucial points thanks to his triumphs in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly as well as the 200-yard IM. He notched winning times of 52.62, 1:58.90, and 2:02.42, with the 200 fly time representing a new personal best.
Nick Reeves (So./Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington) and Ryan Wetzel (So./Salem, Ore./West Salem) added the other individual event wins for the Knights, prevailing in the 50-yard freestyle (22.37) and 200-yard breaststroke (personal-best 2:18.59), respectively.
Carleton trailed 134—132 heading into the day’s final race, the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Ari Conati (So./Minneapolis, Minn./Minnetonka) gave Carleton a slight 0.16-second advantage after his leadoff leg, Reeves and Stevie Fitch (Fy./Redmond, Wash./Nikola Tesla Stem School) both extended the margin a bit with their swims, and Dalluge held off the Oles on the anchor leg for a time of 1:29.15, which was good for a 0.63-second margin of victory.
“So many good performances from virtually everyone on the team, exactly what we like seeing prior to taper,” Clark said. “I think the teams were especially inspired by the senior class whose leadership has been outstanding throughout the season but especially today.”
Carleton will head to the Gustavus Challenge on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 2-3. That will be the final meet of the year for those student-athletes not selected for the Knights’ entry into the MIAC Championships on Feb. 15-17.