Heading into Saturday's meet against Miami University, senior swimmer Addison Del Rio said it is kind of weird.
The meet is the final dual meet of the season and the final home meet of the career for Del Rio and six other members of the Ball State University swimming and diving teams.
"Right now it's mixed emotions," Del Rio said. "Part of you is excited for it and part of you is a little bit sad."
The women start out the day against the RedHawks at 1 p.m. at the Lewellen Aquatic Center. Five minutes before the start of the meet, Del Rio, Michelle Huang, Valarie McGowan and Stephanie Paul will be honored as the Cardinals' seniors.
Before the 4 p.m. men's meet, Caleb Bye, Ryan Franklin and Brett Pettit will be honored from the men's team.
Like Del Rio, co-coach Laura Seibold-Caudill said the meet will be bittersweet.
"I'm really excited for them but not excited for their absence next year," Seibold-Caudill said.
Del Rio said it is surreal that she will compete in her final home meet and dual match meet for Ball State on Saturday. She said she has tried to not think about it.
"I really try not think about it because I really just want to put the team first and be able to perform as well as I can," she said. "So [I] try not to get too emotional about the whole thing."
The Cardinals' women are coming off a 165-135 loss Saturday against Ohio University.
Both Seibold-Caudill and co-coach Bob Thomas said the meet came down to the end and Ball State competed well against the Bobcats, which is great for momentum heading into the meet against Miami.
"It builds their confidence up that they can compete with anybody," Thomas said.
The men's team last competed in a loss against Eastern Michigan University on Jan. 26.
Both Seibold-Caudill and Thomas said Miami is a really tough team and will be a challenge as it is always one of the top teams in the Mid-American Conference.
Seibold-Caudill said the RedHawks are a stronger team than the Cardinals and their roster is also deeper. However, Ball State could pull off the upset, she said.
"There's no doubt they have an advantage, but that doesn't mean that we can't beat them," she said.
While the coaches said they are focused on Miami, they are also focused on the MAC championships. They said this final dual meet is a preparation for the bigger meets that await later this month.
The women's championship is Feb. 20 while the men will compete Feb. 28.
"I really want to put all of the focus on the championship," Seibold-Caudill said. "Obviously we're going to have a meet, our focus is on the meet, but you want to make sure our focus is on the championship."
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