Ball State’s swim and dive teams found themselves on opposite sides of the win and loss column in their final meets of the regular season. The women’s team claimed a win against Bellarmine (145.5-58.5) while the men’s team suffered a loss to end the season against Southern Illinois (181-118).
In their final coed meet of the season in Louisville, Ball State was able to take down the Bellarmine Knights in convincing fashion. As a combined unit, the Cardinals managed to win 17 out of 22 total events in the meet. Freshman Benjamin Clarkston had an explosive day racking up wins in the 50 and 100 freestyles, as well as being the anchor in the winning relay in the 200 medley relay. Freshman Alexa Von Holtz continues her impressive season by adding wins in the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly to make it 16 individual event wins on the season for her.
As the women’s team's regular season ended that night in Louisville, the men’s team still had some business to take care of out west with conference foe Southern Illinois. However, the challenge proved to be too big for Ball State as they fell to the Salukis to end their regular season with a loss. With the loss, Ball State ends their regular season with a 3-2 duel record, just beating out their duel record last season (3-3 in 2022-23).
It was rough sledding for the Cardinals from the beginning as Ball State failed to win one event in the first five events. The Cardinals' first event victory came from fifth-year senior Joey Garberick when he claimed victory in the 100 breaststroke; an event he is currently ranked first in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Garberick later claimed the 200 breaststroke where he is also ranked number one in the MAC in.
Fifth-year senior Bryce Handshoe managed to squeak out a win just after Gaberick’s victory in the 100 breaststroke when Handshoe came out victorious in the 200 butterfly. Handshoe is currently ranked in the MAC top 16 in both the 100 Butterfly (6th) and 200 Butterfly (5th).
Despite the struggles in the pool, the Cardinals found success in the diving well with sophomore Porter Brovont taking both the one-meter (307.73) and three-meter (328.50) events. His score on the three meters was enough for Porter to qualify for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships in Zone C. He will be heading to Louisville, Ky., to participate in the event on March 14-16.
Ball State swim and dive will be back in action as both the men’s and women’s teams prepare for the MAC Championships. The women’s team travels to Athens, Ohio for the event (Feb. 28-March 2), while the men’s team will travel to Carbondale, Illinois for their championship event (March 6-9).
Contact Dane Massey with comments at dtmassey@bsu.edu or on Twitter @danemassey22.
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