Bellarmine vs Ball State
- November 23, 2024
- Louisville, Ky.
- SCY (25 yards)
Courtesy: Ball State Sports
LOUISVILLE, KY – – The Ball State swimming program earned a combined 11 event wins in a Saturday split at Bellarmine with the women picking up victory and the men suffering a setback at the Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center.
On the women’s side, the Cardinals (3-1) tallied wins in seven of the meet’s 11 events, led by a pair of individual victories by sophomore Alexa Von Holtz.
Von Holtz’s first event win came in the 200 freestyle when she clocked in at 1:57.05. She followed with her third butterfly victory of the season, taking top honors in the 100 at 57.44. With the two event wins, Von Holtz upped her season tally to five.
The women’s meet started with senior Alyssa Messenger, sophomore Julia Ofman, senior Eliza Bader and junior Haley Sakbun combining for a winning time of 1:47.56 in the 200 medley relay.
Junior Payton Kelly would then pick up BSU’s first individual victory, and her sixth of the season, taking top billing in the 1000 freestyle at 10:19.26. It was the seventh-fastest individual time in program history in the event.
After back-to-back wins from Von Holtz, Sakbun and sophomore Kayla Newman would go on to pick up their first individual event wins of the season. Sakbun took the top spot in the 100 freestyle (53.79), while Newman won the 500 freestyle (5:14.11).
Ball State would then seal the meet victory with junior Kiran Stauffer, Sakbun, junior Callie Tuma and Kelly combining for a winning time of 3:#7.54 in the 400 freestyle relay.
On the men’s side, the Cardinals (0-4) picked up wins in four of the 11 events contested, with sophomore Malcolm Slater dominating the distance events. Slater, who now has six event wins on the year, touched the wall in 9:36.95 in the 1000 freestyle and 4:41.30 in the 500 freestyle.
The men’s squad also received an individual win from junior Jacob Siewers, who took the top spot in the 100 freestyle at 46.59. Siewers then closed the meet by swimming anchor for the winning 400 freestyle relay that clocked in at 3:07.99. He was joined in the event by junior Benjamin Clarkston, freshman AJ Friend and freshman Dominick Perkowski.
Both the Ball State men’s and women’s swimming and diving program will return to action December 5-7 at the Miami Invitational.
Courtesy: Bellarmine Athletics
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bellarmine University swimming concluded its fall schedule with its first home meet of the season on Saturday, battling against Ball State at Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center. The women scored 13 more points this year against the Cardinals than they did last year with the men coming out on top, marking their first win over Ball State in program history.
For the men, seniors John Paul Metzner and Brandon Thomas led the way with two wins each. Metzner touched the wall first in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.10 and the 100 butterfly with a time of 50.27 while Thomas finished first in the 200 IM (1:56.35) and tied for first with grad student Andrew Nguyen in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 58.62.
Sophomores Evan Dickson and Colin Jackson also won gold in the dual with Dickson claiming the 200 freestyle (1:42.91) and Jackson taking the 100 backstroke (51.35).
A slew of other Bellarmine men took podium finishes in junior Sam Jones who placed second in the 1000 freestyle, junior Cason Henderson who placed second in the 200 IM, junior Caleb Howard who placed second in the 100 freestyle, Dickson who placed second in the 500 freestyle and sophomore Britton Pianki who finished third in the 100 freestyle.
On the women’s side, freshman Micaela Godfrey continued to impress with another two wins, taking first in the 200 IM (2:08.35) and the 100 backstroke (57.16).
Fellow freshmen Lily Epley and senior Alexandra Pierce also took home gold against Ball State, with Epley finishing first in the 50 freestyle (24.58) and Pierce finishing first in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.49). Epley and Pierce also took home a silver each with finishing second in the 100 freestyle and Pierce finishing second in the 200 IM.
In addition, freshmen Lily Wolfe took silver in the 500 freestyle and Ava Jones took bronze in the 100 free.
The Bellarmine swim teams will take some extended time off as they prepare for their spring schedule, beginning with a dual against Xavier at Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center on Saturday, January 18.
