Miami RedHawks Sweep First Home Meet of 2026 As Women Top EMU, Men Down Ball State

MIAMI (OH) VS EMU (WOMEN) VS BALL STATE (MEN)

• January 16, 2026
• Oxford, Ohio
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

Courtesy: Miami RedHawks Athletics

OXFORD, Ohio — The Miami University swimming and diving team competed in its first home meet of 2026 on Friday, Jan. 16. The RedHawk women took on and defeated Eastern Michigan 178-116. The men were tasked with Ball State and defeated the Cardinals 163.5-135.5.

How it Happened:

• The meet began with the women’s 200-yard medley relay. The women’s A team finished first. Ella Ziegert, Natalie Gilson, Kaylin Herbet and Julia Waechter turned in a combined time of 1:44.28. The women’s B team finished second. Madison Camden, Rebekah Gurley, Audrey Conley and Gracie Gregory turned in a combined time of 1:49.20.
• The men’s 200-yard medley relay followed where the men’s A team finished first. Jensen Nelson, Ben Eichberg, Duncan Salmen and Tegan Barrier posted a combined time of 1:29.00
• The women’s 1000-yard freestyle followed, where Sarah Pophal finished in second-place, posting a time of 10:08.11.
• Elijah Rolfsen finished first in the men’s 1000-yard freestyle, earning a time of 9:27.29.
• The women’s 200-yard freestyle was next. Audrey Conley finished second, turning in a time of 1:57.94.
• After that was the men’s 200-yard freestyle where Michal Piela finished second with a time of 1:40.98. Owen Hoban was third, recording a time of 1:41.79.
• Ziegert finished first in the women’s 100-yard backstroke, posting a time of 56.17. Camden was second with Gurley behind her in third-place, earning times of 58.29 and 58.46 respectively.
• The men’s 100-yard backstroke followed. Jett Dooley finished second, turning in a time of 51.85.
• The women’s 100-yard breaststroke was next where Gilson finished first with a time of 1:04.90
• After that was the men’s 100-yard breaststroke. Ian Wihebrink finished second, clocking a time of 57.10. Drew Watson finished in third, earning a time of 58.01.
• Next up was the women’s 200-yard butterfly where Gregory finished first, earning a time of 2:07.18. Kenadie Glasgow was in third-place, with a time of 2:14.86.
• Allen Cotton finished in first-place in the men’s 200-yard butterfly, turning in a time of 1:51.14.
• Herbet was first in the women’s 50-yard freestyle, recording a time of 23.80. Waechter finished second with a time of 24.13.
• The men’s 50-yard freestyle followed where Barrier finished first, posting a time of 20.39.
• After that was the women’s 100-yard freestyle, where Waechter was first, turning in a time of 52.17.
• The men’s 100-yard freestyle was next. Ian Rodrigues-Kmiliauskis finished in first-place with a time of 45.20. Salmen was second, earning a time of 45.25.
• After that was the Women’s 200-yard backstroke where Mady Bachmeier finished in first-place, recording a time of 2:04.07. Chrisna Bezuidenhout was third with a time of 2:07.56.
• Nelson finished first in the men’s 200-yard backstroke, posting a time of 1:47.79. Pablo Silva finished second, with Rolfsen in third, turning in times of 1:51.73 and 1:53.47 respectively.
• Gurley was first in the women’s 200-yard breaststroke, earning a time of 2:25.75.
• The men’s 200-yard breaststroke was next. Eichberg finished first with a time of 2:05.58.
• The women’s 500-yard freestyle followed. Gregory finished first, recording a time of 4:59.67. Camden was third with a time of 5:09.96.
• After that was the men’s 500-yard freestyle where Luke Pugh came in second-place. He earned a time of 4:42.80. Hendrik Bechtel was third, turning in a time of 4:43.38.
• The women’s 100-yard butterfly followed, where Ziegert finished second with a time of 57.01. Herbet was third, posting a time of 57.30
• Next was the men’s 100-yard butterfly. Hoban finished in second-place, clocking a time of 49.67.
• Gilson came in first in the women’s 200-yard IM, recording a time of 2:06.00. Lauren Gualtieri finished in third-place, earning a time of 2:14.00
• Up next was the men’s 200-yard IM. Cotton finished first, turning in a time of 1:51.61. Watson was second, with Silva in third, earning times of 1:53.92 and 1:56.35 respectively.
• The women’s 400-yard freestyle relay was next. The women’s A team finished first, earning a time of 3:31.96.
• Swimming events concluded with the men’s 400-yard freestyle relay. The men’s A team finished first. Hoban, Rodrigues-Kmiliauskis, Bryce Menchhofer and Barrier turned in a combined time of 3:01.63.
• For diving events, Sydney Rice finished second in the women’s 1M dive with a score of 252.00.
• Tuck Gregory was second in the men’s 1M dive, turning in a score of 297.65. Noam Kulbak finished in third-place with a score of 295.60.
• Rice was first in the women’s 3M dive, earning a score of 297.45. Avery Potrzebowski finished in third-place, posting a score of 241.90.
• Paul Hong finished in second-place in the men’s 3M dive with a score of 315.60. Gregory was third, earning a score of 297.70

UP NEXT: The RedHawks swimming and diving team will return to Oxford on Jan. 24 to take on Xavier and Kenyon College. Events will start at 1 p.m.

Courtesy: EMU Athletics

Courtesy: Ball State Sports

OXFORD, Ohio – The Ball State men’s swimming and diving program delivered a strong competitive performance against the Miami (OH) RedHawks, taking six event wins, along with 19 top three finishes. In the end, the Cardinals fell to the RedHawks, 163.5 –135.5 at the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center Friday afternoon.

Ball State’s George Patterson added another win to his freshman total, placing first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:39.81. In his first collegiate season, Patterson has tallied five individual event wins, leading the men’s squad.

The Cardinals finished first in the next two events that followed, with William Raches earning top prize in the 100 backstroke (51.69) and Aidan Biddle claiming the 100 breaststroke (56.22). Biddle earned his third win this season in the 100 breaststroke, while Raches earned his second in the backstroke.

In the 100 butterfly, AJ Friend earned his first individual event win of the season after touching the wall with a time of 49.23. Friend also finished second in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.58.

Raches, Biddle, Friend and Patterson joined forces at the opening of the meet, placing second in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:30.96. At the conclusion of the afternoon, Friend, Raches and Patterson teamed up with Benjamin Clarkston to place second in the 400 freestyle relay.

Malcolm Slater topped the men’s 500 freestyle, placing first with a time of 4:37.31. Slater has improved his individual event win total to four in the 2025-26 season.

On the diving board, Zach Shaddy secured his first event wins as a Cardinal, scoring 316.70 on the 1-meter board and 321.15 on 3-meter. Ryan Farmer improved his season high on the 1-meter board (280.00), topping his previous best of 274.00. Mitchell Mauck rose his season high on the 3-meter board from 240.90 to 257.70.

The men’s squad will be back in action with the women at the Lewellen Aquatic Center Jan. 23 as both programs host IU Indy for senior day. Senior athletes from the men’s and women’s programs will be honored prior to the meet. Events are slated to begin at 5:30 p.m.

BALL STATE RESULTS
200 Medley Relay | Program Record – 1:26.35 by Pheifer, Garberick, Handshoe, Chaye in 2023
2nd – William Raches, Aidan Biddle, AJ Friend, George Patterson – 1:30.96
5th – Ike Ruszkowski, Max Kruglov, Zack Vervlied, Mason Young – 1:37.20

1000 Freestyle | Program Record – 9:24.01 by Malcolm Slater in 2025
2nd – Malcolm Slater – 9:35.98
3rd – Seth Blossom – 9:50.62
4th – Tommy Brunner – 9:57.46

200 Freestyle | Program Record – 1:35.98 by George Patterson in 2025
1st – George Patterson – 1:39.81
4th – Dominick Perkowski – 1:43.92
5th – Nathan Harper – 1:45.17

100 Backstroke | Program Record – 48.32 by Jared Holder in 2021 
1st – William Raches – 51.69
3rd – Colin Walrond – 52.23
5th – Max Kruglov – 53.58

100 Breaststroke | Program Record – 51.93 by Joey Garberick in 2024
1st – Aidan Biddle – 56.22
5th – Ike Ruszkowski – 58.98
6th – Reeve Ferber – 59.10

200 Butterfly | Program Record – 1:46.93 by Bryce Handshoe in 2024
2nd – Henry Ko – 1:51.25
3rd – Luke Pryor – 1:53.85
5th – Kenny Reed – 2:04.89

50 Freestyle | Program Record – 19.89 by Owen Chaye in 2024  
2nd – AJ Friend – 20.58
4th – Benjamin Clarkston – 21.25
5th – Zack Vervlied – 21.76
6th – Mason Young – 21.78

100 Freestyle | Program Record – 43.58 by Owen Chaye in 2023
3rd – William Raches – 45.84
4th – George Patterson – 46.13
5th – Zack Vervlied – 46.75
7th – Mason Young – 47.98

200 Backstroke | Program Record – 1:47.38 by Ethan Pheifer in 2025
4th – Nathan Harper – 1:56.07
5th – Max Kruglov – 1:57.31
6th – Colin Walrond – 1:58.61

200 Breaststroke | Program Record – 1:54.78 by Joey Garberick in 2024
2nd – Ike Ruszkowski – 2:08.27
3rd – Aidan Biddle – 2:08.41
4th – Reeve Ferber – 2:14.37
6th – Kenny Reed – 2:26.36

500 Freestyle | Program Record – 4:27.13 by George Patterson in 2025
1st – Malcolm Slater – 4:37.31
4th – Tommy Brunner – 4:47.91
5th – Seth Blossom – 4:48.95
6th – Dominick Perkowski – 4:50.49

100 Butterfly | Program Record – 47.84 by Bryce Handshoe in 2024 
1st – AJ Friend – 49.23
3rd – Henry Ko – 50.87
T-4th – Luke Pryor – 51.26
6th – Benjamin Clarkston – 51.43

200 Individual Medley | Program Record – 1:49.31 by Joe Morris in 2015
4th – Ike Ruszkowski – 1:57.34
5th – Max Kruglov – 1:58.82
6th – Nathan Harper – 1:59.82
7th – Kenny Reed – 2:06.92

400 Freestyle Relay | Program Record – 2:56.24 by Friend, Patterson, Raches, Siewers in 2025
2nd – AJ Friend, William Raches, Benjamin Clarkston, George Patterson – 3:04.52
3rd – Mason Young, Dominick Perkowski, Malcolm Slater, Zack Vervlied – 3:07.69
5th – Aidan Biddle, Colin Walrond, Seth Blossom, Luke Pryor – 3:16.31

1-Meter Diving | Program Record – 344.25 by Dave Keener in 1991
1st – Zach Shaddy – 316.70
5th Ryan Farmer – 280.00
6th – Porter Brovont – 263.80
7th – Mitchell Mauck – 237.95
8th – Emilio Perez – 229.95

3-Meter Diving | Program Record – 359.25 by Wyatt Blake in 2023 
1st – Zach Shaddy – 321.15
5th – Porter Brovont – 278.10
6th – Mitchell Mauck – 257.70
7th – Ryan Farmer – 255.05
8th – Emilio Perez – 219.70