The Ball State University women's swimming and diving teams left Muncie, early Wednesday morning to compete in the three day Mid-American Conference Championships in Akron, Ohio.
Collectively, the Cardinals finished the meet in sixth place with a score of 365.5. Eastern Michigan earned first place with 637.5, followed by Miami University (626.5), and Ohio University (510.5) in third.-á
"I think we preformed very well," co-coach Bob Thomas said. "We got some great finishes."-á
After competition on Thursday, the women's team found themselves in fourth place.-áThey achieved this ranking by getting top eight swims from Addison Del Rio and Mary Brinkoetter in the 200 Individual Medley. In the final event of the day, the 400 medley relay team of Brittany Sayler, Del Rio, Erika Paul and Michelle Huang placed second with a time of 3:50.02.-á
After preliminary rounds on Friday morning, the Cardinals were ready to once again take to the pool for finals. However, it was after the first race of the night that would be the difference between forth and sixth places for the rest of the meet.
"The biggest difference was getting disqualified in the 200 medley relay, which we won, which would have been 40 points," Thomas said. "But because our last exchange was to fast, it was disqualified and that was the difference in fourth place."-á
Co-coach Laura Seibold-Caudill also saw the exchange, but felt that the exchange made was a clean one.-á
"I was right there and I surely did not see a jump," Seibold-Caudill said. "I was right there and saw the whole thing and obviously someone's opinion is much stronger than mine because they're an official, but I sure didn't see it."-á
After the disqualification, Brinkoetter would finish the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:28.45, which was good enough for third place. In the 100 breaststroke, Del Rio swam to a third place finish with a time of 1:04.95, and was followed by teammate Lauren Harger in ninth place.-á
In the next-to-last event of the night, Sayler would swim one of her two Ball State record setting swims, according to Thomas.-áShe swam the 100 yard backstroke event in 57.31 for second place.-áThe time was 0.75 seconds shorter than her last recorded record time.-á
In the three meter diving board, all three Ball State divers placed.-á They were lead by Stephanie Paul in 13th, while Paige Vernasco scored 15th and Katie Boyle scored 17th place.-á
"I was very proud of the divers," Seibold-Caudill said. "Each one of our divers scored this year at the conference meet whereas last year they didn't."-á
Sayler and Brinkoetter would then finish back-to-back in third and forth places in the 200 backstroke, which was Sayler's second Ball State record swim.-á
-áAfter the meet, Del Rio and Brinkoetter were named to the All-MAC First Team and Sayler was named to the All-MAC second team. -á
"Overall, I felt that the girls did a tremendous job," Thomas said. "I'm very pleased with their accomplishments and I feel that we are getting closer to breaking into that top three in the conference."-á
For senior Abby Arnold, the meet was very emotional. It was so emotional that she strained her voice yelling and cheering so loud in the second day of competition. However, as captain, she was very proud of her team and said everyone did what they had to do to stay competitive and thought this was the best meet of the season.-á
"It was absolutely a great way to go out," Arnold said.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
