As freshmen in high school, most people dreamed of the day they would be seniors, until graduation day when it all came to an end.
The same can be said for the seniors of the Ball State University women's swimming and diving team, who will compete collegiality for the last time this weekend at the Mid-American Conference Championship.
Senior Megan Ploetz is taking the reality that this is her last collegiate swim meet in stride.
"This is it for me," Ploetz said. "I can't hold anything back. It's sort of climactic."
Ploetz is one of five seniors on this year's squad and said she expects the team to perform better at this year's MAC Championship than last year, despite having a worse record.
Coach Laura Seibold-Caudill said one of the biggest reasons she expects the team to perform better is attitude.
"Last year, it was an ugly sight," Seibold-Caudill said. "The team did not have a good attitude out of the pool and it carried over to performance. This year, we have stressed the importance of having a good attitude."
The Cardinals go into this year's meet with some high expectations from some of the athletes.
Freshman Emily Haifley, who broke the Ball State record in the 200-yard breaststroke earlier this season, is ranked in the top four in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes.
Junior diver Lisa Maertin, who is an NCAA Zone Diving qualifier in both the one- and three-meter diving events, is ranked sixth and third, respectively.
Coach Bob Thomas said the 200-yard butterfly is potentially the biggest event for the Cardinals at the championship. Ploetz and sophomore Maria Gramelspacher are each ranked in the top 15 in the event, which could potentially produce big points for the Cardinals.
The championship begins Wednesday at 6:50 p.m. and runs through Saturday.
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