Buckeyes and Bearcats conspired to cast a dark cloud over the men's swimming and diving team's weekend.
On Friday, a gutsy but out-gunned Cardinals team dropped a 158-85 decision to Ohio State. On Saturday, the team again turned in a competitive effort, but lost to Cincinnati, 135.5-107.5. Despite losing both meets, which gave the team with a 2-6 dual-meet record on the season, there were several silver linings to be found.
The Cardinals managed only two victories against powerful Ohio State. Senior Nick Badgett won the 100-yard backstroke with a season-best dual-meet time of 51.66. In the meet's final event, the 200-yard freestyle relay, Ball State's Matt Smith, Nick Schuyler, Erik Goodrich and freshman Zach Hall pulled out a close victory over the Buckeye quartet, 1:25.67 to 1:25.89. The hidden story, however, was that the Cardinals turned in a total of 17 season-best dual-meet times against Ohio State.
"We came out against the toughest team we'll swim all year and we swam some of the fastest dual-meet times of the year," Badgett said. "That sets a great tone for the second semester."
"The talent pool on the Ohio State side was superior," head coach Bob Thomas said. "When you face a team like that, your athletes can get discouraged, but the guys fought hard till the end."
Another encouraging development against Ohio State was the emergence of sophomore Chad Rusk in the butterfly events. Rusk turned in a lifetime best swim in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 52.47, good enough for third place.
"I just wanted to get into some events," Rusk said. "I was kind of getting phased out in freestyle, so I switched over. It's been working out so far."
Encouraged by their strong performance on Friday, the Cardinals traveled to Cincinnati hoping for a victory against a talented Bearcat team. But because of several close finishes at critical points in the meet, the team again tasted defeat.
"Cincinnati is definitely a good team - a better team - but I felt we could have beaten them," Thomas said. "If we had swum on Saturday the way we swam against Ohio State, we would have won.
"We needed a little more team effort on Saturday and a few more people stepping up. I wasn't happy with the team's overall performance against Cincinnati."
The Cardinals started out strong with Badgett and Goodrich teaming up with sophomores Clint Cadden and Jason Revere to win the opening 400-yard medley relay (3:32.09). The momentum was short lived, however, as the Bearcats won the next four events before freshman diver Ryan Plantz scored a victory in the 3-meter event.
Other winners against Cincinnati were Goodrich in the 100-yard freestyle (47.76) and Badgett in the 200-yard backstroke (1:52.76).
"I was very unhappy losing, especially when it was so competitive," Thomas said. "All you can do is live for the next meet. Overall, though, I have a very positive feeling about the weekend."
The Cardinals will take this weekend off before hosting Mid-American Conference rivals Bowling Green and Buffalo on Jan. 26.
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