Ball State University Athletics
Men's Swimming & Diving Heads To IUPUI This Weekend
November 12, 2009 | Men's Swimming and Diving
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State men's swimming and diving team will travel to the state's capital Friday and Saturday to compete in the IUPUI House of Champions at the historic IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Ind.
Friday's action is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. with the 200 freestyle relay, while Saturday's scheduled gets underway at 10:00 a.m. with the 200 medley relay.
At last season's House of Champions meet, the Cardinals finished the two-day event with 7993 points, topping second-place finisher Indianapolis (7032) by over 900 points. Overall, the Cardinals scored six event wins at last year's meet.
Entering the second meet of the season, the Cardinals have eight student-athletes ranked in the top 10 in the league in their respective events.
The Cardinals posted seven event wins in their first meet of the year last Saturday at Buffalo. In the meet, senior Austin Laska (Palos Park, Ill./A.A. Stagg H.S.) posted the Mid-American Conference's top time to date this season in the 50 freestyle (21.25) on his way to winning the event.
Fellow senior Ben Battjes (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial H.S.), who completed a 1-2 BSU finish in the 50 free at Buffalo, holds the third-best time (21.43) in the event.
Gavin McNeeley (North Manchester, Ind./Manchester H.S.) enters the week ranked fifth in the league in the 100 breaststroke after winning the event at Buffalo with a time of 1:00.05. His 200 breaststroke clocking of 2:13.30 ranks as the seventh-best mark in the league.
Sophomore Chris Krupa (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike H.S.) owns the fifth-best time in the conference in the 100 butterfly (52.46) after winning the event in the Cardinals' lone meet. Krupa also ranks seventh among MAC athletes in the 200 butterfly (1:58.40).
Following a second-place finish in the 1,000 freestyle (10:07.86) at Buffalo, junior Mark Golden (Itasca, Ill./Lake Park H.S.) holds the sixth-best time in the conference.
Senior Ben Karwoski (Bluffton, Ind./Bluffton H.S.), who was victorious in the 500-yard freestyle last weekend, holds the seventh-best league time (4:51.98) in the event.
In the 200 backstroke, BSU boasts the ninth and 10th-ranked swimmers in the league with senior Tyler Dixon (Jeffersonville, Ind./Jeffersonville H.S.) posting a time of 1:59.95 and sophomore Andrew Hostetler (Vincennes, Ind./Jasper H.S.) clocking in at 2:00.95. Hostetler also has the ninth-best time in the 200 individual medley (2:02.14) and 10th-best time in the 200 butterfly (2:00.82).
The BSU women's swimming and diving squad will also compete in the IUPUI House of Champions.
