The Cardinals came into the third annual Giant Eagle Zippy Invitational on Thursday riding a nine-meet winning streak, hoping to prolong their early season success. Ball State was able to surpass the expectations head coach Laura Seibold-Caudill had set for it by winning the grueling three-day competition by utilizing one of its biggest strengths: team depth.
The women's swimming and diving team notched its first-place finish with a total of 1,554.5 points. The host Zips were the runners-up after tallying a score of 1369.3.
Junior Emily Aubie was the sole Card to win an event as she captured the 400-yard individual medley in 4:31.06. Sophomore Karla Bailey and freshman Michelle Braden both had three top-eighth place times to their credit. Bailey's most impressive performance was her third place (2:10.86) outing in the 50-yard freestyle relay. Divers Paige Vernasco and Dawn Ogden contributed with third and fourth place finishes in the 1-Meter Diving event.
"It was a great opportunity to win a meet like this," Seibold-Caudill said. "This is a big accomplishment for our program. It should carry on into the second half of the season."
Seibold-Caudill attributed the win to the team's uncanny ability to pull together and help each other along as the meet commenced. She said that Ohio University's decision, to leave some of its top swimmers at home was another factor in the outcome.
However, Mid-American Conference first team selection and Bobcat senior Trish Kessler did compete as she narrowly beat out Bailey for fourth place in the 100 Breaststroke.
Ball State also came up huge in the team relay events. The team's biggest finish came with its second place outing in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Seibold-Caudill said the Cards first thought they had won the event, but a competitor from the College of Wooster mounted an amazing come-from-behind effort to seal the victory.
"Relays count for twice as many points, so that was what we were looking for," Seibold-Caudill said. "I can't really attribute our success to any one swimmer. I have never seen the team bond together this well."
Although finals week has arrived, the coach said she would not give her team any time off from conditioning until Dec. 20. She added that while most students will have gone home, her athletes will be taking part in two practices each day to make sure they are in good shape before getting a short break for the holidays.
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