MS&D Set For Pair Of Weekend Meets

December 01, 2009 | Men's Swimming and Diving

By: Ball State Athletics

MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State men's swimming and diving team will open a busy weekend Friday, when it hosts Eastern Illinois at 6 p.m. inside the Lewellen Aquatic Center. The meet will be webcasted live and free of charge by Ball State Sports Link on ballstatesports.com.

Following Friday's showdown versus the Panthers, the Cardinals will travel to Indianapolis, Ind., Saturday for a quad-meet versus IUPUI, Saint Louis and Western Illinois. The meet, which is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start, marks the second time the Cardinals will compete at the IU Natatorium this season.

BSU started the season 0-1 in its lone head-to-head meet at Buffalo but has recently caught fire, placing second in both the IUPUI House of Champions (Nov. 13-14) and the Doug Coers Invitational (Nov. 20-21).

Eastern Illinois stands at 2-1 in head-to-head competition, while IUPUI sits at 1-2, Saint Louis is 1-5 and Western Illinois is 0-2. Western Illinois and IUPUI both competed in the IUPUI House of Champions finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

In Friday's meet versus the Panthers, Ball State head coach Bob Thomas will be looking to guide the Cardinals past his alma mater for the fourth straight season. Last year, BSU topped EIU 157-116 in Charleston, Ill.

During the summer of 2002, Thomas' Eastern Illinois bestowed its highest athletic honor on him, when he was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame, making him one of just three swimmers in the school's history to receive such recognition. In his swimming career at Eastern Illinois, Thomas won 14 national championships -- seven NAIA national titles in 1971 and 1972 and seven NCAA Division II titles in 1973 and 1974.

Entering Friday's meet, the Cardinals claim 21 top-ten individual marks in the Mid-American Conference with seven student-athletes notching at least two.

With a team-high three top-ten conference times, sophomore Chris Krupa (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike H.S.) leads BSU while ranking seventh in the 100 (52.46) and 200 butterfly (1:58.40) and eighth in the 200 IM (1:59.25).

Also owning a pair of top-ten marks are seniors Ben Karwoski (Bluffton, Ind./Bluffton H.S.) and Austin Laska (Palos Park, Ill./A.A. Stagg H.S.), juniors Mark Golden (Itasca, Ill./Lake Park H.S.) and Jeremy Whited (Richmond, Ind./Richmond H.S.) and sophomores Andrew Hostetler (Vincennes, Ind./Jasper H.S.) and Gavin McNeeley (North Manchester, Ind./Manchester H.S.).

Karwoski ranks third in the 1,650 freestyle (16:48.55) and sixth in the 500 freestyle (4:47.33), while Laska holds BSU's highest ranking as he is slotted second in the 50 freestyle (21.25), to go with a ninth-place ranking in the 100 freestyle (48.04).

Senior Ben Battjes (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial H.S.) sits just two spots below Laska at fourth in the 50 freestyle (21.43) while freshman Devon Hill (Muncie, Ind./Central H.S.) ranks two spots above Laska at seventh in the 100 freestyle (47.92).

Golden's two top-ten finishes come in the 1,650 freestyle (16:55.07/fifth) and the 1,000 freestyle (10:07.86/seventh). Along with Karwoski and Golden, freshmen Ethan Hall (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton H.S.) and Nicholas Stevens (Greencastle, Ind./Greencastle H.S.) rank ninth (17:39.14) and seventh (17:24.21) in the 1650 freestyle, respectively.

Earning the third-best mark in the 400 IM (4:17.60) and the tenth-best time in the 200 butterfly (2:00.82) is Hostetler, who is joined in the 400 IM top ten by seventh-place (4:23.29) sophomore Tony DeBrota (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike H.S.).

In the breaststrokes, McNeely has been strong for BSU recording the seventh and eighth best MAC times in the 200 (2:13.30) and 100 (1:00.05), respectively.

On the diving board, Whited holds the tenth-best marks in the conference in the one (227.10) and three-meter dives (260.55).

Wrapping up the Cardinals' top-ten performances is senior Tyler Dixon (Jeffersonville, Ind./Jeffersonville H.S.) who ranks ninth in the 200 backstroke (1:59.14).