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Woman's Swimming and Diving Team Win Conference Championship

Sawra Karimi
February 26, 2003

The St. Olaf women's swimming and diving team accomplished a feat this past weekend that they have been preparing for during the last six months.

In one of the closest meets in the history of MIAC swimming the Ole women captured the conference championship by nine points over Carleton College. The final score had the Oles with 764.5 points and Carleton with 755.50. Last years team champions, Gustavus, had to settle for a close third with 737 points.

Leading the way for the Oles were two automatic national qualifiers. Anna Guenther (SR, Minneapolis, Minn.) had an outstanding meet with wins in both the 100 and 200-yard breaststrokes. Guenther's time of 1:06.24 broke her own St. Olaf record and also met the automatic nationals qualifying standard. Guenther also had an unbelievable 200-yard breaststroke to win with a time of 2:26.23. Carly Knoell (FY, Lincoln, Neb.) will join Guenther as they travel to Atlanta, Georgia to compete in the Division III national championships. Knoell's performance in the 200-yard backstroke was absolutely inspiring. Going into the final heat of this event Knoell and rival Jenny Grover of Carleton were equally matched. Knoell was able to touch out Grover for both the conference championship and the conference meet record. Knoell's time of 2:07.34 automatically qualifies her for nationals. Knoell's performance in the 100-yard backstroke was equally impressive. Grover took the win in this event but Knoell was a close second with a time of 1:00.20.

Katie Detwiler (SO, Fort Atkinson, Wisc.) had a significant impact on the final Ole score with two conference championships. Detwiler defended her title in the 400-yard individual medley from last year with another impressive win. Detwiler's final time of 4:41.50 provisional qualifies her for the national meet. Detwiler added a new event to her list of conference wins with a win in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:12.82. The women have the possibility of also qualifying relays to the national meet. Both the 200 and 400-yard medley relays eclipsed the provisional qualifying standards with times of 1:50.92 and 4:01.05, respectively. Knoell, Guenther and Kate Blum (FY, Marshalltown, Iowa) were members of both relays. Detwiler swam the butterfly leg in the 400, which broke the St. Olaf school record, and Katie Buecksler (SR, Owatonna, Minn.) swam the butterfly leg in the 200.

The women captured the conference championship despite only having five individual champions and no winning relays. The Ole's success was due to their tremendous depth. All of the 21 women representing the Oles at the meet contributed to the final score. The Ole divers were an especially crucial component in the womens ability to edge out Carleton. Jen Williams (JR, Cambridge, Wisc.), Colin Cunningham (SO, University Place, Wash), and Emily Koeck (SO, Fargo, ND) were able to score points on both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions, where as Carleton had no divers competing at the meet. Cunningham had an amazing performance on the 3-meter finishing an impressive second place finish with a score of 411.00 that provisionally qualifies her for nationals. The Oles depth was especially evident in the 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard butterfly. Along with Detwiler's win in the 400-yard individual medley, three additional Oles competed in the top heat that consisted of only 8 swimmers total. Jenna Kubat (SO, Des Moines, Iowa), Anne Lindberg (JR, Maple Grove, Minn.) and Sara Champlin (SO, Prescott, Wisc.) finished third, sixth and eighth, respectively.

In the 200-yard butterfly the Oles further increased their representation. Detwiler, Kubat Sonia Karimi (SR, Rochester, Minn.) and Lauren Haugen (FY, Faribault, Minn.) finished fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth respectively. In addition Champlin placed 10th. The Oles performance in this event solidified their championship. The Ole squad was led both in and out of the water by six outstanding seniors. Aside from Guenther, it was the final swimming competition for Rachel Sattler (Madision, Wisc.), Kate Nygaard (Franktown, Colo.), Laura Schutt (Niles, Illi.),Buecksler and Karimi. Sattler said it was an emotional experience for all of them, "We have been together for four years and this last weekend was the perfect closure to our careers as Ole swimmers. To see the team come together the way it did and win a conference championship was an unbelievable experience." Sattler placed in the top eight in both the 100 and 200-yard breaststrokes. Nygaard also competed in these events and performed especially well considering she was studying abroad first semester. Buecksler finished her career with the Oles in style with two top eight finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard butterfly. Buecksler's performance in the 200-yard breaststroke especially stood out. Buecksler came back in the last 50-yards to win the consolation finals. Schutt finished an outstanding career as a distance swim for the Oles with a crucial fourth place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle with a personal best time of 18.10.12. Schutt also finished in the top eight in the 200 and 500-yard freestyles. Karimi finished in the top eight in both the 100 and 200-yard butterfly with times of 1:01.95 and 2:16.97, respectively. Karimi has been a consistent member of the Ole squad through out her career, due to her ability to pull off great swims at crucial times. Guenther and Knoell will continue to train for the next three weeks before heading to Emory University in Atlanta Georgia March 13th-15th for the Division III National Competition. Guenther earned All-American honors her sophomore in the 200-yard breaststroke and will most likely earn it again this year.Knoell also has a strong chance of earning top honors at this prestigious meet.

Contact Le Ann Finger at 507-786-3315 or finger@stolaf.edu.