Editor's note: In honor of the university's centennial year, The Daily News is counting down 100 days to the university's celebration Sept. 6 with 100 of Ball State's most famous traditions and figures. Check back each day to read about Cardinal history.
The women’s swimming and diving program has been making waves at Lewellen Aquatic Center for 53 years.
‘70s to 1979
In 1975 Nikki Assman began her coaching career, leading the Cardinals to an 1-8 overall record. Assmann was coach for only one season.
Nancy Saylor stepped in in 1976. During Saylor’s two years as head coach, she led the team to a record of 9-12. In the 1977 season, Alysa Gould had a record-breaking season in one-meter diving with 11 dives. On Dec. 16, 1977, Gould scored 464.94 points which placed her second on the all-time record list.
Siebold-Caudill’s Success
Laura Siebold-Caudill, the program’s fourth coach, began her career in 1979. During her time, she led the Cardinals to four third-place finishes at the Mid-American Conference championships. These stand as the Cardinals’ best finishes in program history. Siebold-Caudill also coached her athletes to MAC Individual Championships 34 times and helped guide her relay teams to four titles.
Also, she coached four MAC Diver of the Year Award winners, three Outstanding Senior Award winners and two MAC Swimmer of the Year honorees. Not only were her student-athletes successful in the water, they were successful on land too.
During Siebold-Caudill’s career, she helped her student-athletes earn First Team All-MAC honors 28 times and two All-America honors. In addition to success in the classroom, she coached two individual National Collegiate Athletic Association qualifiers, two U.S. Olympic Swimming Team Trials participants and five International Olympic Team Trial participants. In her 27-year career, Siebold-Caudill obtained an overall record of 278-180-2.
Kristy Patterson’s Success
In 2012, Kristy Patterson began her six-year stint with the Cardinals. She began her first season with an overall record of 8-2 and 2-2 in the MAC. In her first season, Patterson’s team won three individual medals and the 400-medley relay won the event for the first time in program history.
Bridget Ruehl and Maddie Zirzow were athletes that stood out in Patterson’s first season. Ruehl became the third woman in program history to qualify for NCAA Championships in 100 and 200-yard breaststroke events and Zirzow qualified for NCAA Zone Diving as a freshman. But success was not only in the pool, it was also measured in the classroom.
During Patterson’s seasons as head coach, the team was awarded the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America team for five straight seasons. In the 2016-17 season, 18 out of 26 squad members earned a spot on the Academic All-MAC team after earning a 3.65 team GPA. In Paterson’s coaching career, around 58 student-athletes were named to the Academic All-MAC team.
The future of the women’s swim and dive team is bright with Jeremy Agnew as their head coach.
Contact Patrick Murphy with comments at prmurphy2@bsu.edu or on Twitter @PMURPH505.
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