After seven weeks off, the IUPUI men's swimming and diving team returned to action Friday evening at the IUPUI Natatorium and earned a split against Xavier and Ball State.
The Jaguars defeated the Cardinals by a 194-104 margin, while dropping a tightly contested 151-143 decision to Xavier. The Jags picked up five individual wins on the evening led by Lennart Kuester's two victories.
"I was proud of the way the men stepped up and competed today. Despite feeling a little heavy and fatigued in the water, I thought that we battled well in the close races," assistant coach Jake Tapp said. "It came down to the last relay against Xavier which is always exciting. Today's performance should give us confidence for tomorrow's meet against St. Louis and Western Illinois."
The evening started with the 200 medley relay and the Jags got off to the start it needed as the quartet of Luke Haskett, Landon Mintch, Adam Ferguson and Kuester collectively timed in at 1:36.59 to claim the victory over Ball State by .32 seconds.
The 1,000 free was the first individual event and Rich Sunkel swam to a second-place showing with a time of 9:49.50, marking the fourth-best time in school history, before Kuester delivered the first individual win of the day with a first-place time of 1:45.36 in the 200 free.
After the Jags missing out on a podium finish in the 100 back, Ben Weingart emerged with a victory out of lane seven in the 100 breast at 1:00.59, to get the Jags back on track.
Following Weingart, Daniel Heringer placed third in the 200 fly (1:57.43), which was followed by another third place finish from Joshua Garmon in the 50 free at 21.70.
A 15-minute break ensued before Kuester earned his second win of the meet - this time in the 100 free - with a mark of 46.98, and two events later, Ferguson put together a wire-to-wire win in the 200 breast posting a time of 2:09.34.
Sunkel later added another second-place finish, this time in the 500 free, before Alexander Rhoda finished off the individual swimming events with a second-place time of 1:59.34 in the 200 IM.
In diving action, Joshua Carmichael led IUPUI in the 1-meter dive posting a six-dive score of 243.07 to finish second, before Cody Watts won the 3-meter dive with a score of 333.37, which moved him into IUPUI's Top 10 in that event.
To finish the meet, IUPUI placed third in the 200 free relay with its quartet of Garmon, Kevin Lunte, Mason Hamilton and Sunkel earning the best finish out of two Jaguars teams.
The Jags return to action on Saturday, Jan. 11, when they host Western Illinois and Saint Louis at 2 p.m. at the IUPUI Natatorium.
The Ball State men’s and women’s swimming and diving team wrapped up dual meets late Friday evening at the IUPUI Natatorium. The women’s squad defeated IUPUI 176-120 and downed Xavier 219-72 while the men’s team fell to IUPUI (194-104) and Xavier (175-104). The Cardinals earned a combined 13 event wins and posted 11 season bests.
Earning event wins for Ball State were: Jake Brehmer (1-meter diving), Carlena Magley (50 free), Mallory Miles (200 fly), Haley Richter (100 free and 100 fly), Bridgette Ruehl (100 and 200 breast), Drew Sullenbarger (100 back), Drew Tharp (100 and 200 fly), Madie Zirzow (1-meter and 3-meter diving), and the women’s 200 medley relay.
MEN’S RECAP
Junior Drew Sullenbarger earned the first win for Ball State on the night after posting a season-best time of 53.65 in the 100 back. Sullenbarger edged out the swimmer from Xavier by two one-hundredths of a second. Senior Drew Tharp swept the butterfly events with times of 51.52 in the 100 fly and a 1:54.19 in the 200 fly. Classmate Jake Brehmer claimed first place in the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 276.75.
The 200 medley relay of Sullenbarger, Mitch Prather, Tharp and Cole Smith finished fourth with a 1:39.69 while the 200 free relay of Smith, Andrew Lamb, Logan Kisinger and Austin Green also earned fourth place with a time of 1:28.10.
Lamb and JD Middleton both clocked season-best times in the 1000 free with times of 10:09.17 and 10:25.14, respectively. The 200 free followed which saw Neal Fennig finish fourth with a 1:47.32 while Kisinger clocked a 1:51.79.
Tucker Hale and Cam Watters finished with times of 56.55 and 57.33 in the 100 back. Sullenbarger finished second in the 200 back with a 1:57.40 while Hale and Watters posted times of 2:04.79 and 2:05.25, respectively.
Junior Conner Snare posted a season-best time of 1:03.99 in the 100 breast for seventh place. Prather touched at 1:05.16 for ninth place. In the 200 breast Snare and Prather would post times of 2:20.52 and 2:23.62.
Freshman Tanner Barton earned second place in the 200 fly with a 1:56.22 followed by Bradley Ridge and Jacob Eckert with times of 2:02.03 and 2:02.80, respectively. Barton finished third in the 100 fly with a 52.40 followed by Ridge and Eckert with times of 54.60 and 54.83, respectively.
In the 50 free, Smith was the top finisher for the Cardinals with a 22.07. Green and Kisinger finished in sixth and seventh place with times of 22.10 and 22.24 followed by Nick Rodriguez who posted a season-best 22.46. Smith would also finish second 100 free with a 48.23. Green earned sixth with a 48.69 while Fennig and Kisinger earned times of 49.49 and 50.82. In the 500 free, Lamb would finish sixth with a 4:56.11 followed by Fennig and Middleton with times of 4:59.63 and 5:02.64, respectively.
In the 200 IM Barton would earn a fifth-place finish off a 2:02.88. Snare and Sullenbarger posted times of 2:04.64 and 2:05.63 while Eckert would turn in a 2:06.30.
Brehmer finished second in the 3-meter competition with a mark of 288.60.
WOMEN’S RECAP
The meet got off to a hot start for the women’s team earning a 1:46.97 in the 200 medley relay for first place. Cheyanne Jackson finished second in the 1000 free with a 10:44.70 followed by Kayla Hussey who posted a season-best time of 10:45.11. Ball State would go 2-3 in the 200 free when Emily Wisolek and Larah Beaver touched with times of 1:56.29 and 1:56.29.
Ball State would earn its next event win in the 100 breast where reigning MAC champion Bridgette Ruehl turned in a 1:05.34. Stacey Wierman earned a season-best time of 1:07.25 followed by Sumaiyah Ahmad who finished fourth with a 1:08.67.
Ball State would go 1-2-3 in the 200 fly lead by senior co-captain Mallory Miles who clocked a 2:08.32. Freshman Katie Horn finished at 2:12.79 followed by Hussey with a 2:14.91. Ball State would claim the top two spots in the 50 free after Carlena Magley earned a 24.28 followed by Audrey Rodawig with a 24.63. Freshman Jessica Extine earned fourth place with a 25.13.
Senior co-captain Haley Richter claimed the top spot in the 100 free with a 52.78 followed by Magley with a 53.49. Elaine Pitsas earned fourth in the race after clocking a 54.66. Jackie Iglesias was Ball State’s top finisher in the 200 back after posting a 2:11.54 followed by Wisolek with a 2:11.56.
Ruehl continued her undefeated streak in the breastroke by collecting a win in the 200 breast with a 2:21.75. Wierman and Ahmad went third and fourth with times of 2:25.64 and 2:31.25, respectively.
Jordan VanWinkle finished second in the 500 free with a 5:12.83 followed by Jackson with a 5:15.38 for third place.
Richter earned the last swimming win for the Cardinals after earning a 56.30. Rodawig and Miles rounded out the top three with times of 58.40 and 58.92, respectively.
Sophomore Madie Zirzow won both diving events after earning season-best scores of 259.05 on the 1-meter and 268.72 on the 3-meter. Freshman Brittany Penn earned a season-best mark of 235.35 in the 3-meter for second place and earned third in the 1-meter with a score of 216.22. Classmate Quinn Bixler posted a season-best mark of 209.85 in the 3-meter for fourth place and finished fifth in the 1-meter with a 197.77.
Ball State is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 18 when the men and women host Eastern Illinois for a 1 p.m. meet at Lewellen Aquatic Center. Admission is free and live results will be available.
