The swimmers took home several individual and relay titles at Carthage. For the women, Kelly Dolan '07, Mikayla Meyer '07, Christina Roberts '07 and Aly Janzen '08 won the 800 freestyle relay. Dolan also finished second in the 200 free and third in the 500 free.
Once again, the male Oles turned in a strong across-the-board performance. They took home titles in the 200 and 400 medley relays, as well as the 800 free relay. The 200 free relay squad touched the wall in second. Both the 400 medley relay and 800 free relay teams won their events. Individually, Nelson Westby '09 won the 100 breaststroke and 100 men's butterfly. Jake Koch '09 was another double winner in the 100 and 200 freestyle events, and Koch just missed a third victory in the 50 free. Captain Tom Kukla '07 had impressive second-place finishes in the 100 and 200 backstroke events, while Ben Wareham '07 came in third in the 100 breaststroke.
Though St. Olaf did not take home any team titles, Kukla maintained that the team was not disappointed.
"We were very happy with the result from the invitational," Kukla said. "We did not go into the meet with the intention of winning; the invitational was meant to be a mid-season meet for some of our swimmers to get their national cuts and for others to swim in a fast environment."
First-year diver Alyssa Germeroth had a strong showing at the St. Cloud State Invitational, finishing ahead of all other Division III divers. Germeroth placed third in the one-meter dive and second in the three-meter event, behind only athletes from Division II St. Cloud. For the men, Blaise Douros '07 also finished ahead of all other Division III divers in the meet, placing seventh in the one-meter dive and sixth in the three-meter event.
The two invitational meets last weekend end a month-long string of invitationals against a mixture of MIAC and other regional foes. On Friday the Oles return to official MIAC competition with a dual meet against St. John's/St. Ben's in Collegeville. Following that clash St. Olaf will have another month-long break from MIAC dual meets. However, they will travel to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., over winter break for a training trip.