MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING: Ball State blows out Evansville on Senior Night

Aside from popular opinion and how each team may have checked out on paper, Ball State defeated Evansville Friday night on Senior Night by a landslide 150-81.

“We wanted some revenge,” Weber said. “We felt slighted because we lost last year.”

Senior night was a suitable name for the meet as Weber, Nicholas Stevens and Joe Morris finished on top in their respective events.

“We knew what we had to do, we knew our abilities and we knew that we had to lead the team and be examples to the rest of the guys,” Weber said of himself and the senior swimmers.

Weber swept the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1.56:78. He also finished first in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:56.23.

Stevens finished in the top stop in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:50.33.

Morris showed his versatility as he competed in the 200-yard freestyle for the first time this season and placed first with a 1:43.84. Stevens took a close second and touched in at 1:46.22.

Morris also took the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:10.29 as the last event of the night.

The 400-yard medley relay team of Weber, Morris, juniors Drew Tharp and Michael Oaks placed first with a time of 3:28.78.

The seniors were not the only ones finishing on top of their events, however.

“On senior day, everybody on the team wants to do well for the seniors.
That’s a little extra incentive,” Thomas said.

Freshman Cole Smith took the 50-yard freestyle for the second consecutive home meet with a time of 22.00.

Sophomore Andrew Lamb turned in his season best time as he finished first in the 1000-yard freestyle with a 10:08.28.

Sophomore Conner Snare touched in a close second behind Morris in the 200 breast, for a 2:17.26.

Tharp finished at the top of the 200-yard fly with a 1:55.51.

Oaks placed second in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 47:70.

Junior Tucker Hale, Tharp, Smith and Oaks finished second in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:36.12.

Diving proved successful for the Cardinals as well with junior Jake Brehmer finishing in first place in the 3-meter dive with a mark of 259.50.

“I gave them a challenge and in every case they came through and did very well,” Thomas said.

Relieved after the big win, Thomas is ready to concentrate on the individual performances at the Butler Invitational on Sunday.

“Anything can happen at this point,” Thomas said.

Xavier will be amongst the teams at Butler on Sunday. With the recent lost to Xavier earlier this month, revenge will be a main factor in the competition Weber said.