After two days of competition, Ball State men’s swimming and diving ended the Eastern Michigan Invitational in fourth place on the road in Ypsilanti, Mich.
The Cardinals have had a successful season up until this weekend, finishing behind the defending Mid-American Conference champs as well as a few of the toughest Division II schools in the country.
The meet was close in score after the first day of competition. Eastern Michigan finished Friday with 364, Oakland University with 342, Wayne State with 249, Ball State with 161 and Findlay with 29.
Though during the second day of the meet, the lead was extended as Oakland and Eastern Michigan began to make a run to end the competition.
The weekend resulted in Oakland finishing first with 1078, Eastern Michigan in second with 1075, Wayne State finishing third with 718, Ball State in fourth with a score of 529 and Findlay falling short in the fifth spot with 104 points.
Coach Bob Thomas predicted early on that Oakland would be a sizable competition. Oakland defeated defending MAC champ Eastern Michigan in the second day of competition by three points.
Despite placing fourth of the five teams, the Cardinals were able to end the weekend with multiple top finishers.
The meet turned out to be successful for junior Joseph Morris as he had the best finish for the Cardinals. He placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 55.34 seconds.
Senior Michael Weber placed sixth in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 51.25 seconds. Weber also placed ninth in the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:53.80. Morris finished right behind Weber in the 200 IM, placing 10th with a time of 1:55.12.
Junior Michael Oaks finished eighth in the 50-yard freestyle for a time of 21.26 seconds. He also placed eighth in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:43.95. Senior Nicholas Stevens was close behind Oaks, timing in at 1:44.31, putting him in ninth. Stevens also placed ninth in the 500-yard free, timing in at 4:43.48.
Junior Drew Tharp and freshman Jon McCormick also stayed within the top-10 in their respective events. Tharp turned in a time of 51.20 in the 100-yard butterfly finishing in 10th place. McCormick finished the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:18.61, placing 10th.
The relay teams also stayed at the top of the competition over the weekend. Four of the teams finished with top spots overall.
The 200-yard freestyle relay team turned in the best relay time for the Cardinals with a fifth place spot. The team of Morris, Oaks, Tharp and Weber finished with a combined time of 1:25.56. The same team members placed sixth in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:33.80.
The 400-yard medley relay team of Weber, Morris, Tharp and junior Tucker Hale finished in sixth place at 3:27.
Oaks, Stevens, Tharp and sophomore Andrew Lamb placed seventh in the 800-yard freestyle relay, finishing in 7:01.48.
Ball State’s divers also finished out the invitational in the top spots.
Junior Jake Brehmer placed sixth in the 1-meter diving with a mark of 257.35. Freshman Evan Becker also finished top-10, taking the 10th spot with a mark of 198.80.
The Cardinals will break from competition until they meet IUPUI and Xavier in Indianapolis on Jan. 11. The team will meet with Eastern Michigan once again in the new year, though the Cardinals will have a home advantage on Jan. 19.
