ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict swim and dive team will compete with NCAA DII St. Cloud State in a dual competition on Thursday, Jan. 18 in St. Cloud. The dual competition is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.

CSB, which recently completed their winter training trip in Puerto Rico, will compete for the first time since an impressive performance on Dec. 3 at the Rochester Invite. At the competition, the Bennies recorded 18 season-bests and finished with 666 points for seventh in the team standings.  Following the dual with SCSU, the Saint Benedict will host Carleton College in a dual on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 1 p.m., at the Warner Palaestra Pool in Collegeville, Minn. On Feb. 2-3, CSB will go to the Gustavus Invite on Feb. 2-3 before the MIAC Championships in Minneapolis on Feb. 14-17.

Bennies – Top Times in 2023-24
Here is a review of the top three performances individually and the top relay performances in 2023-24.  
50 Free – Emi Wagner, 24.42, Rochester Invite; Rachel Schlueter, 24.73, Rochester Invite; Lindsay Smutka (relay leadoff), 24.87, Rochester Invite 
100 Free – Emi Wagner, 54.82, Rochester Invite; Lindsay Smutka, 55.10 (relay), Rochester Invite; Mikayla Haskamp, 56.61, Rochester Invite
200 Free – Lindsay Smutka, 2:03.86 (relay), Rochester Invite; Morgan Stout, 2:05.22, Rochester Invite; Hannah Tatge, 2:05.64, Rochester Invite
500 Free – Laura Jennings, 5:32.09, Rochester Invite; Morgan Stout, 5:33.82, Rochester Invite; Lauren Sitzman, 5:51.21, Hamline/CSB 
1000 Free –Morgan Stout, 12:08.38, Rochester Invite; Jayda Alholm, 12:27.67, Rochester Invite; Maddy Ahlquist, 12:39.88; St. Olaf/CSB 
1650 Free – Morgan Stout, 19:59.85, Rochester Invite; Jayda Alholm, 20:38.31, Rochester Invite; Emma Vicker, 21:05.79, Rochester Invite
50 Back – Lindsay Smutka, 27.57, Rochester Invite; Rachel Schlueter, 28.25, Rochester Invite; Claire Canfield, 28.55, Rochester Invite
100 Back – Lindsay Smutka, 58.88, Rochester Invite; Rachel Schlueter, 59.13, Rochester Invite; Claire Canfield, 1:01.82, Rochester Invite;
200 Back -- Claire Canfield, 2:10.77, Rochester Invite; Lindsay Smutka, 2:11.38, Rochester Invite; Lauren Sitzman, 2:16.55, St. Kate's Double Dual
50 Breaststroke – Emi Wagner, 32.86, Rochester Invite; Megan Bartels, 33.80, Rochester Invite; Liz Hansen, 34.16, Rochester Invite
100 Breaststroke – Emi Wagner, 1:09.97, Rochester Invitational; Megan Bartels, 1:10.91, Rochester Invite; Liz Hansen, 1:13.61, Rochester Invite
200 Breaststroke – Megan Bartels, 2:35.57, Rochester Invite; Liz Hansen, 2:46.74, Gustavus Invite; Jocie Larson, 2:47.27, Gustavus Invite 
50 Fly – Rachel Schlueter, 28.60, Rochester Invite; Laura Jennings, 28.82, Rochester Invite; Lindsay Smutka, 29:12, Rochester Invite
100 Fly – Laura Jennings, 1:02.37, Rochester Invite;  Lindsay Smutka, 1:02.59, Rochester Invite; Josey Jackson, 1:02.93, Rochester Invite
200 Fly – Laura Jennings, 2:17.15, Rochester Invite; Josey Jackson, 2:23.12, Rochester Invite; Anna Boomgarden, 2:31.46, Rochester Invite
100 IM – Rachel Schlueter, 1:02.32, Rochester Invite; Lindsay Smutka, 1:02.54, Rochester Invitational; Emi Wagner, 1:02.99, Rochester Invite
200 IM - Claire Canfield, 2:16.26. Rochester Invite; Josey Jackson, 2:21.68, Rochester Invite; Megan Bartels, 2:26.27, Rochester Invite;
400 IM – Claire Canfield, 4:50.70, Rochester Invite; Laura Jennings, 5:01.28, Rochester Invite; Mikayla Haskamp, 5:12.11, Rochester Invite
200 Free Relay – 1:38.89, Lindsay Smutka, Rachel Schlueter, Mikayla Haskamp, Emi Wagner, Rochester Invite 
400 Free Relay – 3:40.10, Lindsay Smutka,  Rachel Schlueter and Mikayla Haskamp, Emi Wagner, Rochester Invite
200 Medley Relay – 1:50.36, Lindsay Smutka, Megan Bartels, Rachel Schlueter, Emi Wagner, Rochester Invite
400 Medley Relay – 4:07.82, Lindsay Smutka, Megan Bartels, Rachel Schlueter, Emi Wagner, Rochester Invite;
1-meter diving – 6 Dives – Ella Kowalczyk, 200.25, CSB/Macalester; Claire Hippen, 177.00, Gustavus Invite 
1-meter diving – 5 Dives – Ella Kowalczyk, 119.25
3-meter diving – 6 Dives - Ella Kowalczyk, 202.00, Gustavus Invite 
 
Bennies raise $1,240 to fight breast cancer  
In the lead-up to a dual meet on Oct. 21 with Macalester, the College of Saint Benedict swim and dive team raised more than $1,200 to benefit the fight against breast cancer. The team designed pink "Barbie Bennie" t-shirts, put them on sale and earmarked the money raised for the Minnesota Breast Cancer Coalition. Then, additional donations were taken at the Bennies' opening dual meet against Macalester at the Warner Palaestra pool at Saint John's University.  
  
Wagner named St. Cloud Orthopedic/CSB Athlete of the Week 
 Senior Emi Wagner, who won the 50 free event and was part of the winning 200 free relay and second place 200 medley relay in a dual with St. Olaf on Saturday (Nov. 4), was named the St. Cloud Orthopedic / College of Saint Benedict Athlete of the Week. Wagner, a biology major from St. Cloud, Minn., led an impressive sprint performance by CSB in the dual, which was won by St. Olaf. She won the 50-free by clocking a season-best 25.67 with her third straight win in the event.  Wagner, along with senior Jocie Larson, Mikayla Haskamp, and sophomore Rachel Schlueter, captured the 200-free relay in a season-best 1:42.70. The Bennies also had a solid relay effort in finishing second in the 200-medley relay. The squad of Wagner, Schlueter, sophomore Megan Bartels, and senior Laura Jennings placed second with a 1:56.10 clocking. 
  
Season Review –   
Rochester Invite breakdown – Bennies record 18 season bests
In the 400 freestyle relay, CSB finished eighth in a season-best 3:40.10 with a team of senior Lindsay Smutka, sophomore Rachel Schlueter, sophomore Mikayla Haskamp and senior Emi Wagner. CSB's best mark of the year was 3:49.07 as this performance was nearly nine seconds better than the clocking at the CSB triangular with Hamline and Augsburg earlier this year. CSB had swimmers perform in the 100 IM for the first time this year and they shined with four times that rank in the program's top 12. Smutka just missed qualifying for the top eight in the 100 IM as she was ninth overall and first in the consolation final in 1:02.54, a mark that is a career-best and ranks third all-time at CSB. Also, in the consolation final, Schlueter was 11^th in 1:02.88 although she swam a season-best 1:02.32 in the prelims. Schlueter's time ranks fourth all-time at CSB. In addition, Wagner was 16th overall and eighth in the consolation final in 1:04.24 but had a season-career best 1:02.99 in the prelims, which places her fifth all-time at CSB. In the same event in the C final, Mikayla Haskamp was 22^nd in a season-best 1:06.13, which also places the sophomore in the top-12 all-time at CSB. Senior Laura Jennings had a strong outing in the 200 butterfly as she advanced to the finals and placed seventh with a season-best clocking of 2:17.51. Jennings topped her previous best mark this year by over five seconds (2:22.63).  First-year Josey Jackson also had her season-best in the 200 butterfly with a 14^th place finish in 2:24.77. In the prelims she had her career-best of 2:24.44, which was three seconds better than her 2:27.44 earlier this year. Wagner also advanced to the consolation final in the 100 freestyle as she clocked a team-season-best 54.91 to place 15^th. Haskamp was 35^th in the 100 freestyle in 56.51 as she also bettered her season-best (56.63). Smutka advanced to the consolation final in the 200 backstroke as she clocked 2:13.21, which was over three seconds better than her previous mark this year of 2:16.96. Also in the 200 backstroke, Canfield was in the C Final and placed 17^th with a season best 2:14.40, a mark that improved her season best by 2.34 seconds (2:16.74). Senior Megan Pattee was 36^th in the 200 backstroke in a season-best 2:27.61. Stout also had a strong performance in the 1,650 freestyle as she finished 20^th in a season-best 19:59.85. She crushed her previous mark by nearly 24 seconds (20:24.19).  First-year Jayda Alholm was 23^rd in a season-best 20:38.31, which was 30 seconds better than her previous mark of 21:19.03. Emma Vicker was 24^th as she also had a season-best of 21:05.79 (21:22.07). Sophomore Megan Bartels finished 20^th in the 200 breaststroke in a season-best 2:35.57, which bettered her mark of 2:37.82 earlier this year.