Though her team may have split the pair of weekend meets against Eastern Michigan and Illinois State, Ball State coach Kristy Castillo wasn’t worried with how her team was competing.
The women’s swimming and diving team fell Saturday morning to its Mid-American Conference foe Eastern Michigan 158-142. The two teams traded the lead several times before Eastern Michigan was able to pull off the win.
“I was pleased with the [Eastern Michigan] meet,” Castillo said. “They definitely showed more life in their events. We had a ton of season-bests. We came on even stronger than we did in our first week back from training.”
Ball State opened the meet against Eastern Michigan winning four of the first five events. Haley Richter won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:52.26, a personal best. Katelyn Pratt followed with a win in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 0:57.66, a season-best.
Bridgette Ruehl posted a season-best time of 1:03.76 to get a win in the 100-yard breaststroke.
“It’s disappointing not to get the win,” Castillo said. “But they way the swam, it’s a win in my mind. There were a lot of close races. The score doesn’t show it, but in my mind it was a win.”
The team had one day of rest to put behind the Eastern Michigan meet and prepare for Illinois State. The Cardinals responded well, winning the meet comfortably 173-127.
Again, Ball State started off the meet quickly by winning four of the first five events. The 400-yard medley relay team of Pratt, Ruehl, Richter and Carlena Magley took the first event with a season best time of 3:52.28. Emily Wisolek also got a win in the 200-yard freestyle for the third time this season.
Sumaiyah Ahmad won her first 100-yard breaststroke event of the season with a time of 1:07.59.
Ball State has two remaining duel meets — Evansville on Jan. 25 and Miami of Ohio on Feb. 2 — before the MAC Championship begins on Feb. 28. In that time, Castillo said she will continue to push her team to improve their times.
But after the two meets on the holiday weekend, Castillo said she’s satisfied with how the team has been performing and thinks her team will be improved by late February.
“We responded well to the turn around,” Castillo said. “They were able to get a little change of pace today. We were able to learn something from the races, whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.”
