The women's swimming and diving team defeated four opponents this weekend as it continued on its path of dominance. On Friday night, at the Natatorium at IUPUI, the team (7-1 overall, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) dumped IUPUI 70-43 and upended Western Illinois 74-39. Then on Saturday, the team swept a dual meet it hosted at Lewellen Aquatics Center by beating Illinois-Chicago 98-41 and handling Xavier 81-54. With the victories, Ball State has notched three-straight dual meet victories and has defeated six-consecutive opponents.
At IUPUI's Natatorium, which has been the site of several past U.S. Olympic Trials, the 200-meter medley relay team began the meet with an win (1:53.31). Six women also had individual first-place finishes on the night.
Freshman Danielle Fisher was among the notables with her time (10:42.64) in the 1000-meter freestyle relay. Divers Cassandra Pavlovich and Paige Vernasco won the 1- and 3-meter diving events, respectively.
"I mixed up the freestyle and I had several people swim distance," head coach Laura Seibold-Caudill said. "Friday's meet gave us an opportunity to see where our others strengths are. I think that Danielle Fisher would make a good distance swimmer as well as a middle distance swimmer."
"I love swimming in the Natatorium, because you get a different feeling there," freshman Michelle Braden said. "The meet went really well and we got a chance to get everyone competing. Conference competition is definitely tougher than these exhibitions, but thus far I have felt really well about my swims."
The Cardinals returned home with a dominating performance in another dual meet, Saturday. The team's effort was good enough to clinch 10 of 16 events outright against the Xavier Musketeers and the Flames of Illinois-Chicago.
Sophomore Michelle Arakgi set things off on the right foot by taking the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:41.72. Sarah King was able to keep her spectacular sophomore campaign going with a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle and a second place result in the 100-yard freestyle.
"I felt pretty good today, especially in the 50-freestyle," King said. "It was nice because I swam the exact same time. I have been very tired this week and it's good to know that I could still hang on to it."
The freshman class also continued to shine on Saturday. First-year swimmer and Terre Haute native Danielle Fisher teamed with junior Joey Duncan to finish one-two in the 500-yard freestyle relay. In the meanwhile, freshman Michelle Braden (2:28.28) and sophomore Kelly McDonald matched their performance in the 200 breaststroke.