Ball State University Athletics
Women's Swimming & Diving Finishes Sixth at MAC Championships
February 21, 2006 | Women's Swimming and Diving
DAY THREE RECAP
Akron, Ohio - - The Ball State women's swimming & diving team concluded action at the 2006 Mid-American Conference Swimming & Diving Championships Saturday night, placing sixth overall with 365.5 points. The Cardinals were fourth after the first day of competition, but fell to sixth after the second day.
Eastern Michigan won the three-day competition with 637.5 points, followed by Miami (626.5), Ohio (510.5), Bowling Green (390.5), Toledo (374), BSU, Akron (351) and Buffalo (180.5).
Mary Brinkoetter and Addison Del Rio both earned All-MAC First Team for their efforts at the championships, while Brittany Sayler was named to the All-MAC Second Team.
Saturday's finals started with the longest event of championships, the 1,650 Freestyle. Three Cardinals swimmers placed among the top 16 in the event, with Meghan Patterson taking eighth (17:34.19), Dani Fisher earning 10th (17:36.92) and Brittany Mishler claiming 16th (17:48.96).
In the next event, Sayler and Brinkoetter would claim third (2:03.80) and fourth (2:04.83), respectively, in the 200 Backstroke after qualifying in those same positions in the morning prelims.
Sayler's time of 2:03.20, which earned her the third seed, was a school record topping the previous mark of 2:03.26 set by Brinkoetter in the MAC's last season.
In the 100 freestyle, Michelle Huang would place 13th overall with a time of 52.73, dropping one spot from her prelim position. Ashley VanOsdol turned in a time of 53.45 to place 15th overall, also dropping a spot after qualifying 14th.
Del Rio finished eighth overall in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:25.86. Del Rio posted the second-best time in school history in the morning prelims (2:21.66) to earn the third seed in the finals.
Four BSU swimmers qualified for the finals in the last individual event of the meet, with Jenna Arnold placing eighth (2:07.41), Megan Ploetz finishing 10th (2:06.63), Amber Arnold taking 13th (2:07.87) and Erika Paul earning 16th (2:11.21) in the 200 butterfly. J. Arnold was the only swimmer to qualify for the A-Heat finals, which is why she placed higher than Ploetz despite a slower finals time.
In the final relay event of the meet, VanOsdol, Brinkoetter, Sayler and Huang combined to post a time of 3:29.91 in the 400 freestyle relay, placing fifth overall despite being one of six teams to break the previous pool record.
BSU failed to have a diver advance out of the 3-meter diving prelims. Stephanie Paul was the closest, placing 13th with 219.05 points. Only the top eight divers advance to the finals. Paige Vernasco was 15th (200.90) and Katie Boyle was 17th (195.50).
DAY TWO RECAP
Akron, Ohio - - What started out as a promising day for the Ball State women's swimming and diving team at the 2006 MAC Swimming & Diving Championships, turned out anything but as the team fell to sixth in the overall standings with 241.5 points. Miami overtook Eastern Michigan for the overall lead in the meet with 408.5 points.
The day started out good for BSU, when Mary Brinkoetter earned the No. 1 seed in the 400 Individual Medley finals by pacing the field in the first preliminary event of the day with a clocking of 4:28.48. Despite improving her time in the finals, Brinkoetter finished third overall in the event with a time of 4:28.45.
Meghan Patterson - - who qualified 15th in the event - - also finished 15th overall with a finals time of 4:39.20.
Unfortunately for Ball State, its worst news of the day came in the opening event of the finals, when its 200 Medley Relay Squad was disqualified on the final leg. The team of Brittany Sayler, Addison Del Rio, Erin Johnson and Ashley VanOsdol were leading with a time of 1:21.74 - - 0.30 seconds faster than the next closest team - - after the first three splits before being disqualified.
After the 400 IM, the Cardinals would claim the fourth and 11th spots in the 100 butterfly finals. Erin Johnson would claim the No. 4 slot with a time of 57.37 improving upon her eight-place prelim finish, while Erika Paul placed 11th with a time of 57.71. Paul had qualified ninth in the prelims.
Dani Fisher was the only BSU swimmer to score in the 200 freestyle, placing ninth in the finals with a time of 1:53.24. She improved upon her 10th-place time of 1:53.60 in the prelims to secure the top spot in the B-Heat finals.
In the 100 breaststroke, Del Rio would claim the No. 3 slot in the finals, clocking in with the second-fastest time in school annals at 1:04.95. Lauren Harger would win the B-Heat and finish ninth overall with a clocking of 1:06.25. Both swimmers improved from their preliminary positions of fourth and 11th, respectively.
In the final individual swimming event of the night, Sayler gave the Cardinals their best individual performance of the championships to date, posting a second-place time of 57.31 in the 100 Backstroke. The time is also a school record, topping the previous mark of 57.42 originally set by Kait Martin in 2004.
Ball State's 800 Freestyle Relay squad of Brinkoetter, Fisher, Jenna Arnold and Michelle Huang would cap the night with a fourth-place clocking of 7:37.00. The time is the second-fastest in school annals.
The Ball State women's swimming and diving team will conclude competition in the 2006 MAC Championships Saturday, with prelims starting at
DAY ONE RECAP
Akron, Ohio - - The Ball State women's swimming & diving team is currently in fourth place with 117 points after the opening day of the 2006 Mid-American Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. Eastern Michigan leads the event with 228 points.
The Cardinals opened the meet with a sixth-place showing in the 200 freestyle relay despite being one of six squads to break the previous pool record of 1:36.25. BSU's Michelle Huang, Brittany Sayler, Abby Arnold and Ashley VanOsdol completed the event in 1:35.80.
Dani Fisher would follow with a 14th-place showing in the 500 freestyle, after earning the last of 16 spots into the finals in the morning prelims. Meghan Patterson, who qualified 12th for the event, finished in 15th-place with a time of 5:06.49.
Addison Del Rio would be the Cardinals top individual finisher on the day, clocking in at 2:06.03 in the 200 individual medley. Mary Brinkoetter would place sixth in the event (2:06.36), while Sayler would capture the No. 11 spot (2:09.05). Del Rio and Brinkoetter would match their prelim finishes, while Sayler slipped a spot after qualifying 10th .
VanOsdol would collect eighth in the 50 free (24.26) after qualifying in the same slot, while Huang take home 10th (24.17) after placing 13th in the prelims.
BSU's 400 medley relay squad of Sayler, Del Rio, Erika Paul and Huang would post BSU's best finish of the day, scoring a second-place time of 3:50.02. The time was the second-best effort in school history and one of three clockings to break the previous pool record.
BSU failed to have anyone advance to the 1-meter diving finals.
The 2006 MAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships continue tomorrow with prelims in the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke beginning at 11 a.m. The finals of each event, will begin at 7 p.m.
