Ball State Men’s and Women’s Swim and Dive finished the end of the fall semester at the Miami Invitational Saturday. In the three-day event, 31 Cardinals finished in the top 16 in different events.
The Cardinals began the invitational with a fourth-place finish in the women’s 200 freestyle relay. This relay, which consisted of two juniors and two freshmen, recorded the program’s seventh-fastest time in school history (1:34.44).
“We haven’t been loaded with sprint freestylers or even 200 freestylers for that matter,” head coach J. Agnew said. “What we have seen is steady progress all year long, and they’re getting better every week. To see them stand up and race the way they did was a pretty cool indication of where we’re headed.”
Freshman Katie Walker posted a season-best time of 5:06.52 in the 500 freestyle. In the men’s 500 freestyle, sophomore Davis Meyn continued the trend and recorded a season-best time of 4:38.95. Meyn dropped two seconds off his prelim time and finished in seventh place.
On day two, the women’s 200 medley relay of sophomore Audrey Schank, senior Mason Dahman, freshman Makenna Bottorff and junior Peighton Gilbert finished with a bronze medal with a time of 1:42.96.
The invitational finished with 18 Cardinals placing in the top 16. One Cardinal that stood out was junior Rachel Bertram in the one-meter dive where she finished with a silver medal—3.95 points away from the gold medal.
“My prelim wasn’t too great,” Bertram said. “But then I came back in finals, and I felt very relaxed and had a lot of fun. I came back and earned a [personal record].”
In the men’s one-meter diving event, freshman Hunter Ongay led the Cardinals with a personal record of 246.45 points and placed 14th.
“Personally, it didn’t matter to me whether I made the top 8 finals or consolations,” Ongay said. “I was happy to move on and compete later in the night. It was a good feeling to keep competing with the guys that I was competing against.”
Overall, the Cardinals had four different swimmers and divers finish in the top eight. Meyn finished eighth or better in three of his freestyle events (200, 500 and 1650). Agnew said it was exciting to watch Meyn swim at the invitational.
“Davis was on fire for us all weekend, and he was our go-to guy,” Agnew said. “Every time we needed a big swim, he stepped up and led the charge.”
The men’s team finished in fourth place out of five teams with 437.5 points. The women totaled 441.5 and ended in fifth. Both teams will take a break from competition and return to action Jan. 18, 2019.
Contact Patrick Murphy with comments at prmurphy2@bsu.edu or on Twitter @PMURPH505.
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