Bowling Green Women, Ball State Men Claim Victory At Butler Invite

16th Annual Butler Invite

• January 26, 2025
• Indianapolis, Ind.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

Women’s Team Standings

1. Bowling Green, 1322
2. Xavier, 1136
3. Butler, 899
4. Valparaiso, 684
5. IU Indy, 45

Men’s Team Standings

1. Ball State, 1098
2. Xavier, 1041
3. Valparaiso, 985
4. IU Indy, 32

Courtesy: Bowling Green Sports

FISHERS, Ind. – For the first time in at least 15 years, the BGSU swim team can say they accomplished a certain feat.

The Falcons came away victorious in the 16^th annual Butler Invitational, a meet that included four other teams. In that span, Bowling Green has not won a meet with four or more squads competing.

BGSU (1,322 points) bested Xavier (1,136 – who placed fourth at the 2024 Big East Championships), host Butler (899), Valparaiso (684) and IU Indianapolis (45).

On the wall outside the Fishers High School Natatorium locker room read a red note, “Swim Like A Champion Today” in the same font as the famed Notre Dame football “Play Like A Champion Today” sign that the Fighting Irish tap before going out onto the field.

The Falcons swam with that championship mindset throughout the meet, winning five races from five different individuals.

Emily McNicol (57.35 – 100 backstroke), Ava Vial (1:06.38 – 100 breaststroke), Grace Bodrock (2:05.75 – 200 butterfly), Abby Toepfer (5:13.48 – 500 freestyle) and Taylor Devorace (2:07.28 – 200 IM) all came away victorious in their respective events.

The team also flashed depth, as they placed four swimmers in the top eight in six of the 12 individual events.

Devorace also took runner-up in the 200 freestyle (1:53.64) while Vial came in third in the 100 butterfly (58.05).

In a field of 26 swimmers in the 50 freestyle, five Falcons finished in the top 10. Samia Becdach (24.26) came in second, while Riley McNichols, Annie Berrow, Elayna Krupp and Sierra Newton rounded out the others.

Becdach also finished runner-up in the 100 backstroke (57.55) while McNichols (57.19 – 100 butterfly) and Grace Perlberg (2:24.52 – 200 breaststroke) were the other second-place finishers in their respective events.

Newton (53.00 – 100 freestyle), Madison Bond (2:25.43 – 200 breaststroke) and Perlberg (2:10.68 – 200 IM) each got third.

In the distance events, BG’s top finishers each placed third as well, as Lourdes Manderfield (5:16.07) and Hannah Ehrman (18:05.11) paced their way in the 500 and 1,650 freestyles, respectively.

Additionally, BGSU’s best 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays came in third. No diving events took place.

“I’m extremely proud of how well our team did at today’s invitational,” head coach Tanner Barton said. “We celebrate this team victory, but we will fine-tune our race strategies as we head into next week’s tri-meet and the championship season.”

Up Next
The Falcons will have a tri-meet to wrap up the regular season against Toledo and Buffalo. Senior Day will take place on Friday, January 31 at 6 p.m. at Cooper Pool and will serve as the first half of the meet. The second half will begin the following day at Toledo’s Student Recreation Center at 11 a.m.

Courtesy: Ball State Athletics

FISHERS, Ind. — The Ball State men’s swimming and diving program matched its season-high seven event wins along with a dominant 30 top five finishes to secure its second-straight Butler Invitational with 1098 total points.

As they made their presence felt on the leaderboards, the Cardinals pulled off two top three sweeps in both the 50 freestyle and 200 individual medley Sunday afternoon.

In the 50 freestyle senior Ethan Pheifer took top honors (21.32), followed by junior Jacob Siewers (21.40) and junior Mason Young (21.55).

Freshman Nathan Harper celebrated the first individual event win of his collegiate career as he led the 1-2-3 sweep in the 200 IM (1:55.17). Harper was joined by Pheifer (1:55.39) and senior Michael Burns (1:56.03).

Also claiming their first individual wins of the season were sophomore Aidan Biddle in the 100 breaststroke (55.55) and junior Logan Ayres in the 200 backstroke (1:55.59).

Sophomore Tommy Brunner took home his second individual win of the season after he captured first in the 1650 freestyle (15:57.72).

The invitational was both opened and closed with victories in relay competition. Ball State claimed first place in the 200 medley relay (1:31.37) thanks to the efforts of Pheifer, Biddle, AJ Friend, and Siewers. To close the afternoon Malcolm Slater, Michael Mitsynskyy, Dominick Perkowski and Siewers took first in the 800 freestyle relay (6:51.69).

With this win, the Cardinals head into preparation for the program’s first Missouri Valley Conference Championships Feb. 19-22.

Team Results 
1st – Ball State – 1098
2nd – Xavier – 1041
3rd – Valparaiso – 985
4th – UIndy – 32

Ball State Results at Butler Invitational 

200 Medley Relay | Program Record – 1:26.35 by Pheifer, Garberick, Handshoe, Chaye in 2023 
1st – Ethan Pheifer, Aidan Biddle, AJ Friend, Jacob Siewers – 1:31.37
3rd – Erkan Ozgen, Michael Burns, Mason Young, Benjamin Clarkston – 1:33.47
4th – Auston Shafer, Reeve Ferber, Luke Pryor, Nathan Harper – 1:35.27
1650 Freestyle | Program Record – 15:33.58 by Magnus Ohlson in 1995 
1st – Tommy Brunner – 15:57.72
2nd – Seth Blossom – 16:05.49
4th – Zach Zishka – 16:46.38
5th – Alexander Eddy – 16:47.74
100 Backstroke | Program Record – 48.32 by Jared Holder in 2021 
2nd – Malcolm Slater – 52.00
3rd – Logan Ayres – 52.89
4th – Luke Pryor – 53.13
6th – Nathan Harper – 53.33
8th – Reece Manning – 56.88
100 Breaststroke | Program Record – 51.93 by Joey Garberick in 2024 
1st – Aidan Biddle – 55.55
200 Butterfly | Program Record – 1:46.93 by Bryce Handshoe in 2024 
2nd – AJ Friend – 1:51.98
3rd – Benjamin Clarkston – 1:53.65
4th – Reeve Ferber – 1:53.78
5th – Michael Mitsynskyy – 1:54.30
7th – Michael Burns – 1:55.61
8th – Kenny Reed – 1:59.38
50 Freestyle | Program Record – 19.89 by Owen Chaye on Two Occasions 
1st – Ethan Pheifer – 21.32
2nd – Jacob Siewers – 21.40
3rd – Mason Young – 21.55
6th – Auston Shafer – 21.83
7th – Dominick Perkowski – 21.87
9th – Erkan Ozgen – 22.30
100 Freestyle | Program Record – 43.58 by Owen Chaye in 2023 
2nd – Jacob Siewers – 46.27
3rd – Benjamin Clarkston – 46.75
6th – Aidan Biddle – 48.15
7th – Erkan Ozgen – 48.26
11th – Alexander Eddy – 49.07
200 Backstroke | Program Record – 1:48.22 by Logan Ackley in 2020 
1st – Logan Ayres – 1:55.59
500 Freestyle | Program Record – 4:28.38 by Malcolm Slater in 2024 
3rd – AJ Friend – 4:44.13
4th – Dominick Perkowski – 4:47.53
8th – Kenny Reed – 4:52.99
100 Butterfly | Program Record – 47.84 by Bryce Handshoe in 2024 
2nd – Reeve Ferber – 51.42
4th – Malcolm Slater – 51.79
6th – Luke Pryor – 52.03
8th – Mason Young – 52.24
9th – Michael Mitsynskyy – 52.45
10th – Auston Shafer – 52.46
200 IM | Program Record – 1:49.31 by Joe Morris in 2015 
1st – Nathan Harper – 1:55.17
2nd – Ethan Pheifer – 1:55.39
3rd – Michael Burns – 1:56.03
800 Freestyle Relay | Program Record – 6:36.72 by Siewers, Slater, Mitsynskyy, Chaye in 2024 
1st – Malcolm Slater, Michael Mitsynskyy, Dominick Perkowski, Jacob Siewers – 6:51.69
3rd – Seth Blossom, AJ Friend, Alexander Eddy, Tommy Brunner – 6:59.62