A successful season climaxed at the Mid-American Conference Championships in Oxford, Ohio for the women's swimming and diving team over the weekend with a fourth place finish.
In 19 of 20 events, the team finished with at least one swimmer in the top 16, and in 13 of those 19, two swimmers competed in the night session. There were three events in which at least two Cardinals finished in the top eight, including the 100-yard backstroke, in which Kait Martin, Sarah Welter and Brittany Sayler finished second, fourth, and sixth.
Coach Laura Seibold-Caudill called the weekend one of the most exciting conference meets because of the parity among teams, and was thrilled by her team's performance.
"We had a heck of a meet," she said. "They just really stepped up. We had more improvement than any team in the conference."
Ball State finished the first day of competition in fifth place behind Ohio. The Cardinals improved to fourth on Friday, just three points behind Akron, and finished the meet in the same spot, only five points behind Bowling Green.
Miami Ohio easily won the championship for the third year in a row.
Seniors Martin and Emily Aubie were named to the All-MAC Second Team, and Seibold-Caudill was named Coach of the Year.
The credit for her award, Seibold-Caudill said, goes to the swimmers and staff.
"There was no way I could have won it without them," she said.
The Cardinals were led by Martin, who added to her second place in the 100 back with a fifth-place in the 200 backstroke, and Aubie, who finished fourth in the 400 IM, fifth in the 200 butterfly, and eighth in the 200 IM.
Martin also helped the 200 freestyle relay team finish second and the 200 medley relay teams finish third. Both Martin and Aubie helped the 400 medley relay team finish fourth.
Karla Bailey also had a big meet, finishing third in the 50 freestyle and was also a member of the 200 and 400 free relay and 200 and 400 medley relay teams.
Seibold-Caudill praised her swimmers for their performance, including Sayler, Ellie McCammon, Erin Johnson and the senior class.
"Every single person on our team did phenomenal," she said.
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