Coming off of a second-place finish at the season-opening Indiana Intercollegiate last weekend, Ball State Women’s Swim and Dive split its weekend, defeating Youngstown State Friday and falling to Buffalo Saturday.
The Cardinals started the weekend Friday where they were victorious over the Penguins, 211-88, opening the meet with a sweep of first, second and third in the 200-medley relay. The team of junior Audrey Schank, sophomore Abbie McCarter, sophomore Makenna Bottorff and senior Peighton Gilbert took first place with a time of 1:46.79.
The Cardinals were dominant throughout the meet, winning 13 of the 16 events that night. Gilbert went on to finish first in two other events, as she also won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.57 and was part of the winning team on the 400-yard freestyle relay.
On the boards, senior Rachel Bertram swept both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives with scores of 267.37 and 296.48, respectively.
“Rachel Bertram has been a steady hand on the diving board,” head coach Jeremy Agnew said. “She’s kind of our go-to on the diving board right now. She showed a lot of resilience and toughness.”
This Cardinals traveled to Buffalo that night in preparation to face the Bulls the next day. Agnew said he was impressed with how his team recovered to be able to compete on back-to-back nights.
“[We] listen to how the body recovers and make sure we are doing enough cool down, refuel the body," Agnew said. "Nutrition had to be good, and then coming out with the mindset that we’re here to race on day two. I thought they handled that really well as a team.”
The Cardinals were unable to match their success in the second meet of the weekend, falling to Buffalo, 197-103. Though the Cardinals came up short, Agnew said he felt the event was a good stepping stone for what is to come.
“I think this is great preparation for MACs at the end of the season,” Agnew said. “We’re going to be back here at Buffalo, so knowing how to perform because at MACs we are going to have to perform over three and a half days. I think this was great to take that road trip.”
Freshman Shelby Crist took first place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.46. That time was good enough to move Crist into sixth place all time for Ball State in the event.
“Shelby had an outstanding race and really a great weekend for us,” Agnew said. “She was great in the 100 back, and her 100 fly was really strong. She is a fighter, that’s for sure.”
The Cardinals took two other first-place finishes on the night with the team of Schank, sophomore Alex Bader, Crist and freshman Apsara Sakbun taking first in the 400-medley-relay. Bader also won the 100-yard breaststroke.
The Cardinals hit the pool again Friday at Eastern Illinois, then have their first home meet the next day against Eastern Michigan and Wabash.
Contact Matt Sharp with comments at mtsharp@bsu.edu or on twitter at @sharpmatthew66.
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