On Saturday's Senior Day for the Ball State women's swimming and diving team, the team may not have gotten and ideal result on the scoreboard which displayed a 143-100 loss against Notre Dame, but coach Laura Seibold-Caudill was pleased with her team's performance.
This was the last home meet for four Ball State swimmers and divers and for Seibold-Caudill, who is retiring after 33 years as coach.
"We won numerous events," she said. "It's not that I wasn't surprised of our ability, it's based on our meet last year. It seems like every time we get big teams to our pool, we're a much different team."
Seibold-Caudill said going into the meet she expected that her team wouldn't beat Notre Dame because the times of swimmers and divers are usually black-and-white statistics. But her team came out early and gave the Fighting Irish an unexpected challenge.
After the first two events of the meet, the 200-yard medley relay and the 1,000-yard freestyle, Ball State had a lead which forced Notre Dame to make changes in its lineups.
"Some of our kids saw them go over and change their lineup," Seibold-Caudill said. "I think they started with an easier lineup and had to change. Their coach yelled at them. I don't think they knew what was coming."
Since it was Senior Day, Seibold-Caudill said she believes her team was a little distracted from the meet. But she also thought her team had a legitimate shot to grab the win if more touch-outs had gone its way.
"If we would have had the results from [Friday] night, we would have won," she said.
The team may not finish the season undefeated or win the Mid-American Conference title, but Seibold-Caudill said this year's team was one of the best teams she's had. And it begins with the intangible dream her team had this season.
"This is the dream team I have," she said. "It's not just about winning or losing, it's about learning life. These are girls that will have friendships that will last a lifetime. This group gets along better than any team I've ever had. These girls are true champions."
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