Swimming
One of the most accomplished swimmers in Carleton history, Max Harper won 11 individual MIAC titles, including the rare four-peat in the 100-yard breaststroke. He qualified for the NCAA Championships four times, where he earned status as an All-American four times and added a trio of All-America honorable mention performances.
He burst onto the swimming scene as a rookie, winning conference crowns in both the 100 breaststroke and 200 backstroke. He turned in his first All-America swim that season, taking seventh place at nationals in the 100 breaststroke and added a 10th-place showing in the 200 breaststroke to receive his first All-America honorable mention.
There was no sophomore slump as Harper nabbed the top spot at the MIAC Championships in three events: the 200 individual medley plus the 100 and 200 breaststroke. At the NCAA meet, he turned in a trio of All-America swims, including national runner-up in the 100 breaststroke plus a fifth-place finish in the 200 breaststroke and eighth-place showing in the 200 IM.
He was MIAC champ in those three events again in 1997 and 1998 and picked up All-America Honorable Mention in the 100 breaststroke as a junior and senior. Harper still holds Carleton top-10 times in five different events, including the school record (56.26) for the 100 breaststroke.
He was a four-year member of the CSCAA’s All-Academic Team and was voted to the CoSIDA Academic All-America second team in 1998. Harper received the swim team’s Warnecke Award, which is presented each year to the senior who made the greatest contribution to the squad, and was Carleton’s recipient of the Warren Beson Award for athletic and academic excellence.