Ball State swam to victory in a nail-biter against Toledo this weekend, claiming a 151-149 win on their senior day. Seniors Sydney Harris and Madie Zirzow were honored in the win.
Ball State:
MUNCIE, Ind. — The Ball State women’s swimming and diving team conquered Toledo in an emotional 151-149 Mid-American Conference victory and earned eight event wins in the process. The meet was the final home event of the season for the Cardinals, and featured a special senior recognition session to honor Sydney Harris andMadie Zirzow.
“It was a big win for the seniors at home against a MAC school and for it to come down to the last race was really exciting,” said Ball State women’s swimming and diving head coach Kristy Castillo. “From top-to-bottom every lane was a win, and we talked about winning the moment and so all those moments added up to the total victory for us. The team kept their attitudes up and the energy was high and that’s what led to winning the events.”
The day started out with a strong Ball State event win in the 400 medley relay. JuniorCourtney Mudd combined with sophomore Amanda Kedzierski, sophomore Andrea Richterand junior Jessica Extine to mark a time of 3:55.64. The feat was a new season-best from the Ball State team.
After junior Kimberly Scott finished third in the 1000 free with a time of 10:57.03, freshman Liz Madison cinched a second place finish in the 200 free when she touched the wall in 1:56.66. Madison was narrowly followed by fellow sophomore Traci Muszalski who came in just a second later at 1:57.54 for third.
Junior Courtney Mudd and sophomore Andrea Richter rounded out the top-three places in the 100 back by earning second (1:00.52) and third (1:00.59), respectively, followed by Kedzierski and Harris completing the same feat in the 100 breast in 1:05.50 and 1:07.31.
It was then in the 200 fly that junior Katie Horn earned the first individual event win for the Cardinals with a final of 2:06.80. Extine propelled off the momentum to post a second place finish in the 50 free immediately after, by narrowly coming in at 24.67, just behind Toledo’s Brooke Edwards’ 24.51 time.
There was then a break to transition to one-meter diving action, in which the Cardinals swept the event with Zirzow earning a score of 265.43, junior Brittany Penn earning a season-best 254.03 and sophomore Taylor Fiew coming in at 247.05. Other Ball State divers Courtney McKeen (career-best, 238.20), Quinn Bixler (228.75) and Lauren Kessinger (career-best, 210.23) also participated in the event.
Extine continued to top the time sheets when she added an individual first place finish to her successes of the day in the 100 free with a 54.40 final.
The event was followed up with two Ball State third-place finishes in the 200 back by sophomore Allie Kolz, as well as Harris’ 2:26.96 final in the 200 breast.
The Cardinals then went on a roll to head into the final two events of the meet with three consecutive event wins. In the lanes, Madison clocked in at 5:12.32 in the 500 freestyle and Richter posted a 57.78 in the 100 fly, just ahead of Toledo’s Katrin Streicher’s 58.40.
Back in the diving pool for three-meter action, Bixler topped the charts with a 274.20 score, followed by Zirzow’s season-best of 272.78 for second. Fiew earned a score of 249.08, Penn marked a season-best of 242.78, followed by McKeen’s career-high of 234.30, while Kessinger earned a 173.55.
“Divers were big for us today and came through on their two events, and took one, two, three on the one-meter,” said Coach Castillo. “They were able to get big points for us on that side, so it was definitely a complete team effort.”
Rounding out the final individual event of the day with a second place finish was Scott in the 200 IM. Scott’s 2:11.79 final was enough to earn her highest individual finish of the meet.
The emotionally charged meet was closed out with a tight race in the 200 freestyle relay, in which the Cardinals came in needing a first place finish to win the meet. That goal was conquered by the combination of Kedzierski, Madison, freshman Lauren Elston and Extine in a time of 1:37.37. With the 11 point victory, the Cardinals came up with a 151 final to Toledo’s 149.
Up next, the women’s swimming and diving program will travel to Athens, Ohio for its final regular season meet with Mid-American Conference foe Ohio. The event has a 1 p.m. scheduled kickoff.
“This is really good timing for this kind of momentum because we’ve been so close to winning other dual meets and for us to be so close and to come up short is really defeating for them,” Coach Castillo added. “We really need to feed off of this momemtum, taking it into Ohio next weekend. We’re realizing that all the pieces are coming together and that all the puzzle pieces are matching up.”
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women’s swimming and diving action, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateWSwim on Twitter.
Toledo:
Muncie, IN –The Toledo swimming and diving team seemed to meet their match this weekend in Muncie, IN. The Rockets were defeated by Ball State 151-149, even though each team won eight of the 16 events.
Seniors Lauren Comer and Samantha Richart were victorious in each of their races.
Comer placed first in the 100-yard backstroke (59.96), 200-yard backstroke (2:07.70) and the 200-yard individual medley (2:09.64). Junior Allie Brinkhoff touched second in the 200 back at 2:09.83 and third in the 200 IM at 2:11.83.
Richart touched first in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.44) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:24.66). Sophomore Jessica Avery came in second in the 200 breast at 2:25.36.
Junior Rachael Hester claimed a victory in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:41.62, while senior Mary Dombkowski touched second at 10:47.91.
Sophomore Maggie Hack won the 200-yard freestyle by touching the wall in 1:56.08.
The 50-yard freestyle was won by senior Brooke Edwards with a time of 24.51, while freshman Stephanie Lohnes claimed third place by posting a 25.54 final.
UT returns home on Saturday, Jan. 30 to host Buffalo at 1:00 p.m. in the Student Rec Center. Toledo’s five seniors will be honored before the meet begins.
Swimming news courtesy of Ball State and Toledo Swimming & Diving.
