Coming off their first victory over Eastern Illinois, the Ball State men's swimming and diving team is looking to upset Xavier at the Butler Invitational today after losing earlier this season at the IUPUI House of Champions.
Ball State finished second in last year's Butler Invitational, narrowly losing to Xavier 712-698. Coach Bob Thomas says in order to beat Xavier this time around it will start with each swimmer.
"We're going in there to do our best individually and if everybody can do that then there is a chance we can upset Xavier and right now they're the favorites," Thomas said. "They're a really good team."
Thomas said that the team is on track and only needs to improve on the little things during Butler Invitational.
Last year Ball State won seven of 16 events among five individuals. This year Ball State returns three in seniors Chris Krupa, Gavin McNeely and Casey Schroeder.
They will need a strong performance from Krupa who was last week's Mid-American Conference swimmer of the week.
"It's really just about my competitive edge," Krupa said. "The season's really long. We're going on five or six months for the entire season. It's important to keep focus and keep up the hard work. The will to win trumps anything so that's what I try to do week in and week out."
It was the second time this season that Krupa has won swimmer of the week with each coming after the team's last two meets.
The talented Krupa won two events in last year's Butler Invitational and three individual events against Eastern Illinois. He also contributed to Ball State's first 200 medley relay win of the season with McNeely, Schroeder and junior Michael Weber.
"It's quite an honor to get one MAC swimmer of the week award, let alone two," Thomas said.
The meet will begin at noon and will also include opponents Hillsdale, Youngstown State and Valparaiso.
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