The women's swimming and diving team went into Ohio's Aquatic Center hoping to establish itself near the top of the Mid-American Conference pecking order, having only lost one MAC meet all season. Conference powerhouse Ohio had other plans though, as it defended its home turf, downing Ball State (143-90) and Toledo (146.50-96.50) during the regular season finale Saturday. Toledo defeated the Cardinals in the scoring of the second half of the double duel by a margin of 130-113.
Despite what head coach Laura Seibold-Caudill called an "ok" effort, the team failed to notch any first place finishes on the afternoon. Divers Dawn Ogden and Paige Vernasco fared best by swapping second and third place finishes in the 1 and 3-meter diving events. Ogden's 225.80 points placed her behind Bobbi James of Ohio on the 3-meter board, while Vernasco finished second to James in the 1-meter event with 232.55 points.
"We just seemed to not to be in it as well as we were last week," Seibold-Caudill said. "The times were just a little bit off. It's hard to repeat being so competitive week after week. We have to be more ready for them next time."
Junior Kait Martin finished second with a time of 2:08.87 in the 200-yard backstroke. Sophomore Sarah King finished third after being out-touched by three-tenths of a second by Ohio's Emily Frasco and Toledo's Emily Markovich in the day's closet race, the 50 freestyle.
The Cardinals competed without two members of the team who stayed in Muncie nursing an illness and injury. Junior freestyler Dee Dee Wolverton was diagnosed with a severe respiratory cold and sophomore diver Cassandra Pavlovich hyper-extended her back in practice, to the extent of which is not yet known. The coach thought the injuries hurt the team's overall depth, which is vital when competing against top conference opponents.
Seibold-Caudill also said the last week of hard training seemed to affect the swimmer's performance as she noticed several athletes who "swam tired" throughout the meet Saturday.
"This was the last hard week for us," Seibold-Caudill said. "The hard training kind of took its toll, but we had to look at what was priority."
The meet gave the Cardinals a preview of what to expect when they compete against both teams again at the MAC Championships Feb. 27-March 1 in Bowling Green, Ohio. Seibold-Caudill believes her team is still in good shape as the coach said she has a good feeling about how things are coming together.
"Going into the conference meet, it certainly doesn't worry me," she said. "That's for sure. We're right where we want to be. They've seen these teams now and they will know what to expect."
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