ST. JOSEPH, MINN. – Led by Emi Wagner and Lindsay Smutka, a veteran College of Saint Benedict Swim and Dive Team opens the 2023-24 season with a lot of optimism as the Bennies host Macalester College in a dual competition at 1 p.m., on Saturday, Oct. 21 at the Warner Palestra Pool in Collegeville, Minn. 

CSB and Macalester will compete in 16 events including the 200 medley and 200 free relays. The teams will also compete in the 1,000 free, 200 free, 100 back, 100 break, 200 fly, to free, 200 back, 200 breast, 500 free, 100 fly, 200 IM and both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards.

With the return of nine seniors, CSB, which is directed by head coach Mandy Wolvert, is a veteran team that is coming off a fifth-place finish at the MIAC Championships (361 points) in 2023. The Bennies, which have finished in the top-six in the MIAC in each of the past 18 years, earned All-MIAC honors in three individual events and honorable mention All-MIAC in five more events while recording 19 program top-10 marks at the conference championships.

Leading the way for CSB will be All-MIAC performer Emi Wagner, who was third in the 50 free at the 2023 MIAC Swimming and Diving Championships. Wagner, who has two All-MIAC and five honorable mention All-MIAC performances in her career, clocked a 23.98 in the 50 free, which is second all-time in CSB history. Wagner's clocking of 23.98 tied former CSB standout Kristen Beste (23.98, 2012) for second all-time and just .27 from the top mark by Steph Bierman of 23.71 in 2013.

Wagner also placed sixth at the MIAC Championships in the 100 free by clocking a program top-10 mark of 54.11 (53.78, 2022 MIAC Championships) but just off her personal-best. She was also a member of several relays that earned points at the conference meet.

Smutka was part of four relays that scored points in the MIAC Championships, while recording two top-10 finishes in individual events. In the 100 back, she clocked a career-best 57.64 to finish fourth and earn All-MIAC honorable mention at the MIAC Championships with the second best-time ever at CSB. In the 200 backstroke, she won the "B" final (9^th) in a 2:06.38 for the third all-time clocking in school history.

Smutka, who earned All-MIAC honors in 2021-22 in the 100 backstroke and has four All-MIAC honorable mention honors, helped the 400 free relay finish fifth at the league championship meet with a squad that included Wagner along with sophomores Mikayla Haskamp and Rachel Schlueter, In the 200 free relay, Smutka, Schlueter and Wagner were part of a relay that was honorable mention All-MIAC and fourth in 1:38.48. In the 400-medley relay, she and Wagner were team members for a squad that was sixth in 4:01.76.  In addition, she was part of a 200 medley relay squad, which included current team members Megan Bartels, and Wagner, which was sixth at the MIAC Championships in 1:49.48, a mark that ranks sixth all-time at CSB.

Also, back for CSB will be seniors Laura Jennings, and Claire Hippen, who contributed significantly a year ago. Hippen will once again be an integral part of the diving squad. Last season Hippen had an NCAA B standard in placing 14^th with a 291.50-point total during the three-meter event in the MIAC championships. 

Jennings finished eighth at the MIAC meet in the 200 fly with her prelims clocking of 2:16.38 ranking ninth all-time at CSB. She also recorded a 5:29.97 finish in the 500-yard freestyle and qualified for the B Final. Jennings and sophomore Lauren Sitzman were also members of the 800-meter free relay that was fifth in 8:06.78 at the MIAC Championships.

Aside from their work on the relays, sophomores Schlueter and Haskamp had solid individual efforts in their first year with the program. Schlueter was seventh at the league meet in the 100 back by posting a 59.55. She was also 12^th overall in the 50 free with a personal-best 24.64 in the prelims. Haskamp recorded a personal-best of 25.48 in the 50 free at the MIAC. She was 18^th in the 100 free with a PR of 55.32.  

At the MIAC Championship, sophomore Maddie Ahlquist finished 11th the 1,650-yard freestyle with a personal-best of 19:40.24. Sophomore Lauren Sitzman was 10^th in the 200 back with a personal-best of 2:09.77 in the prelims, a mark that was sixth all-time at CSB. Sitzman qualified for the B Final in the 100-yard backstroke where she placed 12^th in 1:01.65. 

Another sophomore, Megan Bartels was part of a top-six relay (200 medley noted earlier) and finished 13^th in the 100 back in 1:10.58.

CSB EARNS SCHOLAR ALL AMERICA TEAM HONORS
Saint Benedict finished the year with a team GPA of 3.54. CSB was one of 88 teams with a 3.5 grade point average or better.  It was the 12^th straight year that Saint Benedict swim and dive has earned academic honors for its work in the classroom. 
 
HC Mandy Wolvert begins fifth season at CSB.
Mandy Wolvert enters in her fifth season as head coach in 2023-24. Along with three seasons as the team's head coach, Wolvert also spent six seasons as an assistant with the Bennies (2012-15 and 2016-19.  Wolvert has guided CSB to top six finishes three times with back-to-back fifth place finishes in 2021-22 and 2022-23. A year ago, CSB had three All-MIAC individual performances and five honorable mention All-MIAC efforts (relay/individual). She also helped coach the team to four All-MIAC honors in 2018-19 - the most for the program since 2012-13. In her first three seasons as assistant coach, Saint Benedict finished in the top five each year at the MIAC Championships, including fourth place finishes in 2013 and 2014. Wolvert is a 2000 graduate of St. Cloud State where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in mass communications. She also swam for the Huskies for three years from 1996-99.