ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Lindsay Smutka, Jocie Larson and Lauren Sitzman of the College of Saint Benedict Swim and Dive Team have been named to the 2023‐24 Academic All‐District® Women's Swimming & Diving Team, selected by College Sports Communicators.

The CSC recognizes the nation's top student‐athletes for their combined performances in the pool and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All‐America® program separately recognizes women's swimming and diving honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA. Academic All‐District® honorees advance to the CSC Academic All‐America® ballot. First, second and third‐team Academic All‐America® honorees will be announced in late April. The CSC Academic All‐District® teams include the student‐athletes listed on the following pages.

Smutka, Larson and Sitzmann helped lead the CSB Swimming and Diving Team to a sixth-place finish at the MIAC Championships in 2023-24. This is the second group of three student athletes for CSB swim and dive to earn CSC Academic All-District honors, joining the 2022-23 group. Smutka is the first-ever two-time honoree with Larson and Sitzman earning their first-ever honors.

 

Smutka, a three-time Academic All-MIAC honoree, earned All-MIAC honors as a member of the 200-freestyle relay, which had a second place finish in 1:37.43, a mark that ranks fourth all-time in CSB school history. She was also a member of the 200-medley relay that earned honorable mention All-MIAC honors with a fourth-place finish and school record of 1:47.08. She was on the 400-medley relay that finished sixth with a clocking of 4:01.64 for the sixth-best time in program history. Also at the MIAC Championship, she was eighth in the 50-free but clocked a 24.58 in the prelims. She finished second in the 100-back with a clocking of 58.57 in the prelims. On the year, she had 13 top-eight finishes with four first-place finishes and a pair of second place results.

The senior was part of four relays that scored points in the 2022-23 MIAC Championships while recording two top-10 finishes in individual events. In the 100 back in 2022-23, she clocked a career-best 57.64 to finish fourth with the second best-time 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. In addition, Smutka helped the 400 free relay finish fifth. In the 200 free relay, she was part of a team that finished fourth in 1:38.48. In the 400-medley relay, CSB finished sixth in 4:01.76. In total she had 23 top-eight finishes a year ago.

In 2021-22, she was All-MIAC in the 100-backstroke and took ninth in the 50 free and 11th in the 200 backstroke while earning All-MIAC honorable mention honors on the fourth place 400 free relay. She swam the second best 100 backstroke in program history and was a member of the record-breaking 400-free relay during those championships and had 13 top-five finishes in that season.

 

Larson, a senior biology major, has earned Academic All-MIAC honors and this year earned All-MIAC honors as a member of the 200-freestyle team squad placed second with a 1:37.43, for fourth all-time in program history. This year at the MIAC Championships, she was 16^th in the 50-free in 25.38. During the season, Larson had 12 top-eight finishes in competing in eight different competitions. In 2022-23, Larson had eight top-eight finishes. In 2021-22, Larson was All-MIAC with the third place 200-free relay that had the second-best clocking at the time, and she also finished with five top-five finishes. As a first year, she had six top-100 finishes.
 

Sitzman, a biology sophomore from Omaha, Neb., had 14 top-eight placings in nine competitions. At the MIAC Championships, she was  12^th in the 200-yard backstroke (2:12.19). She also placed 12^th in the 100-back with a clocking of 1:00.46. She also scored points for CSB with a career-best 2:01.28 (prelims), and a 15^th place finish in the 200 free. She was a member of the 800-free relay that had a season-best clocking of 8:05.13 in placing sixth at the MIAC Championship.

As a first-year, she had 16 top-eight finishes in 10 meets. She was also a member of the 800-free relay that was fifth at the MIAC Championship a year ago.