Ball State hosted the Doug Coers Invite on Saturday, with Grand Valley State traveling to the competition. On the men’s side, Grand Valley State won 769-530. The Grand Valley State women also won, with a very close 679-651 decision over Ball State.
Ball State:
MUNCIE, Ind. – – The Ball State men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs completed the 12th annual Douglas A. Coers co-ed Invitational on Saturday afternoon. The teams hosted Grand Valley State at the Lewellen Aquatic Center with a standard 16-event lineup.
The men’s swimming and diving team fell to the Lakers 769-530 in its official 2015-16 season opener, while the women’s swimming and diving team fell to Grand Valley State in a narrow 679-651 final.
The women’s swimming and diving squad posted seven event wins, including six individuals. Junior diver Quinn Bixler led the Cardinals with two event wins, marking scores of 270.60 and 282.98 in the one- and three-meter events, respectively. Both scores will send Bixler to her first NCAA Diving Zones competition, were lifetime best scores, and place her eighth all-time in the Ball State record books. The combination of Cardinal divers also tallied five additional season best scores throughout the invitational.
In the lanes, sophomore Amanda Kedzierski earned two event wins, including the 100 breaststroke in a 1:05.35 final, as well as in the 200 medley relay (1:46.76) with teammatesJenna Zitkus, Andrea Richter and Jessica Extine. Extine then went on to tally an individual event win when she touched the wall at 24.32 in the 50 freestyle.
Rounding out the women’s top finishes was junior Katie Horn, who clocked a 2:08.35 in the 200 butterfly, followed by a 58.75 time in the 100 fly. The 2:08.35 final was a new season best for the Noblesville, Ind. native.
In men’s competition, senior Cole Smith marked the two event wins for the Cardinals, including a 21.78 time in the 50 free, followed by a 47.38 final in the 100 free. Smith narrowly clenched the first place honors in the 50 free, when he beat out Grand Valley State’s Danny Abbott by just .02 seconds.
Ball State men’s swimming and diving then tallied six additional second place finishes, including Tanner Barton‘s 1:56.09 final in the 200 fly, followed by a 7:17.97 time in the 800 free relay with teammates Austin Green, Banistre Lienhart and Andrew Carlson. Carlson also notched a second place individual honor when he touched the wall in 4:54.92 in the 500 free.
Freshman Cullen Tyler opened men’s competition with a second place finish in the 200 medley relay (1:37.71) when he combined with Logan Kisinger, Bradley Ridge, and Green, prior to posting an individual 1:01.63 final for second in the 100 breast.
Closing out the men’s second place finishes was sophomore Isaac Walling, who marked a 16:53.46 time in the 1650 free. Also participating in the mile swim was junior JD Middleton, who followed narrowly behind Walling and marked a 17:03.35 final for third.
Looking ahead, the Ball State women’s swimming and diving squad will split up to take on the Miami Invitational and the Eastern Michigan Invitational. The swimmers will travel to Oxford, Ohio from Dec. 3-5, while the divers will head to Ypsilanti, Mich. with the men’s swimming and diving program from Dec. 4-5.
For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State men’s swimming and diving team, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateMSwim and @BallStateWSwim on Twitter.
Grand Valley State:
The Grand Valley State men’s and women’s swimming and diving team swept a dual meet Saturday afternoon against Ball State University at the Doug Coers Invitational in Muncie, Indiana. The Laker men won 769-530, while the women won with a score of 679-651. GVSU will take to the waters again when they compete at the Calvin College Invitational (Dec. 3-5) and the AT&T Winter National Championships (Dec. 3-5).
The #5 men’s team won 14 events to cruise to the 239 point victory, including both relay events. The 200 medley relay team of Gianni Ferrero, Marius Mikalauskas, Danny Abbot, andJD Ham touched the wall in 1:34.83. Ferrero also took first place in the 200 free (1:43.02), the 200 butterfly (1:53.44), and the 100 butterfly (49.44). Also winning multiple events were Mikalauskas in the 100 breast (57.54) and 200 breast (2:06.94), Joseba Hidalgo Vilela in the 100 back (53.88) and the 200 back (1:55.76), and Cole Smith in the 50 free (21.78) and the 100 free (47.38). Also winning events were Michael Hudson in the 1650 free (16:35.27), Gonzalo Rodriguez in the 500 free (4:49.54), and Grant Borregard in the 400 IM (4:09.37). In the diving events, Jared Gergory won the 1 meter (281.55 pts.) and Ian Ellis won the 3 meter (290.03 pts.). Nick Zacek, Gonzalo Rodriguez, and Ben Walling won the 800 freestyle relay for GVSU with a time of 7:06.56.
On the women’s side, the #6 Lakers took nine events to edge out the Cardinals. Of the relay events, the GVSU team of Leonie Van Noort, Lara Deibel, Allison Wells, Samantha Postmus won with a time of 7:43.66. Multi-event winners for the Grand Valley State women were Van Noort in the 1650 free (16:39.09), the 200 free (1:52.76), and the 100 free (53.06), and Samantha Postmus in the 500 free (4:56.35) and the 400 IM (4:26.68). Also winning individual events for the Lakers were Meghan Falconer in the 100 back (59.30), Allison Wellsin the 200 back (2:08.02), and Emily Gallagher in the 200 breast (2:26.28).
Swimming news courtesy of Ball State and Grand Valley State Swimming & Diving.