Men?s Swimming & Diving Fourth At MAC's

Wednesday, February 18

Nashville, Tenn.

TBA

Ball State University

Sun Belt/Mid-American Conference Championship (Men)

February 21, 2009 | Men's Swimming and Diving

By: Ball State Athletics

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DAY FOUR RECAP

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - The Ball State men's swimming & diving team finished the 2009 Sun Belt/Mid-American Conference Championships with 267 points to rank fourth out of four MAC squads and 10th of 11 overall teams at the event which is being held at the Nashville Centennial Sportsplex and hosted by Western Kentucky University.

The Cardinals opened the final day of competition with sophomore Mark Golden placing 16th in the 1650 freestyle with a BSU season-fast clocking of 16:00.18.

After failing to score in the 200 backstroke, the Cardinals got back in the finals in the 100 freestyle with junior Ben Battjes posting a 22nd-place time of 45.99. His clocking of 45.85 in the prelims was the team's fastest time in the event this season.

With no swimmers qualifying for the finals in the 200 breaststroke or the 200 butterfly, the Cardinals ended the four-day meet with a ninth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay, as Battjes, freshman Casey Schroeder, junior Josh Young and junior Austin Laska combined for a time of 3:03.95

Denver captured the overall title, with a total score of 1226. Eastern Michigan was crowned the MAC champion, finishing the event with 1046.5 points, followed by Buffalo (639.5), Miami (588) and Ball State (267).

OVERALL TEAM SCORES
1 University of Denver Pioneers      DU             1226
2 Missouri State University          MSU            1172.5
3 Western Kentucky                   WKU            1064.5
4 Eastern Michigan                   EMU            1046.5
5 Southern Illinois University       SIU             734
6 University at Buffalo              UB              639.5
7 Miami University (Ohio)            MIOH            588
8 University of New Orleans          UNO             552.5
9 Florida Atlantic University        FAU             446.5
10 Ball State University              BSU             267
11 University of Evansville           UE              207

DAY THREE RECAP

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - The Ball State men's swimming & diving team finished the third day of the 2009 Sun Belt/Mid-American Conference Championships with 213 points to rank fourth out of four MAC squads and 10th of 11 overall teams at the event which is being held at the Nashville Centennial Sportsplex and hosted by Western Kentucky University.

The Cardinals opened the day with freshman Andrew Hostetler taking 21st in the 400 individual medley with a clocking of 4:06.82. Hostetler's prelim clocking of 4:06.51 in the morning session was BSU's fastest individual effort of the season.

Freshman Chris Krupa was the second BSU swimmer to score on the evening, placing 24th in the 100 butterfly with a time of 51.28. He also posted Ball State's fastest time of the season in the prelims with a time of 50.83.

Senior Mark Augustyn gave Ball State its next points in the 200 freestyle with an effort of 1:42.54 in the finals. He was also post a BSU season-fast clocking in the prelims with a career-fast time of 1:42.07.

Gavin McNeeley was the third Ball State freshman to score in the meet, posting a 24th-place time of 59.00 in the 100 breaststroke finals.

In 1-meter diving, senior David Linn gave the Cardinals' their second 21st-place effort of the day with a score of 218.60.

The Cardinals concluded the third day of competition with freshman Adam Thieling, McNeeley, Krupa and senior Austin Laska placing 10th in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:26.32.

Overall, Denver from the Sun Belt leads the meet with 864.5 points, while Eastern Michigan is the top MAC school setting in third with 728 points.

Action in the championships concludes Saturday with six more men's finals on tap, beginning with the 1650 freestyle at 6 p.m. (CT).

Men - Team Rankings - Through Day 3
1. University of Denver Pioneers   864.5
2. Missouri State University       810.5
3. Eastern Michigan                  728
4. Western Kentucky               717
5. Southern Illinois University      523
6. University at Buffalo           456.5
7. Miami University (Ohio)           455
8. University of New Orleans        367
9. Florida Atlantic University     315.5
10. Ball State University             213
11. University of Evansville          164

DAY TWO RECAP

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - After a strong showing in the 50 freestyle, the Ball State men's swimming & diving team finished the second day of the 2009 Sun Belt/Mid-American Conference Championships with 170 points to rank fourth out of four MAC squads and ninth of 11 overall teams at the event which is being held at the Nashville Centennial Sportsplex and hosted by Western Kentucky University.

The Cardinals placed two swimmers in the top 10 of the 50 freestyle, as Ben Battjes turned in an eighth-place time of 20.76 in the championship final, while Austin Laska placed ninth with a clocking of 20.44 in the consolation final.

Laska's effort was the fastest for BSU this season and was the third-best finals time for a MAC swimmer. Battjes prelim time of 20.56 was his fastest of the year and qualified him for the championship final.

BSU opened the second day of competition with Mark Golden placing 23rd in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:36.69. His prelim clocking of 4:36.48 was Ball State's fastest of the year. The Cardinals did not have a swimmer score in the top 24 in the 200 individual medley.

Ball State closed the second day of competition with an eighth-place showing in the 200 freestyle relay as Battjes, Chris Krupa, Josh Young and Laska combined to post a BSU season-fast time of 1:23.12.

Overall, Denver from the Sun Belt leads the meet with 447 points, while Eastern Michigan is the top MAC school setting in third with 366 points.

Action in the championships continues Friday with six more men's finals on tap, beginning with the 400 individual medley.

Men – Team Rankings After Day 2
1 University of Denver Pioneers      DU              447
2 Missouri State University          MSU             412
3 Eastern Michigan                   EMU             366
4 Western Kentucky                   WKU             320
5 Miami University (Ohio)           MIOH            260
6 Southern Illinois University       SIU             242
7 University at Buffalo              UB              226
8 Florida Atlantic University        FAU             197
9 Ball State University              BSU             170
10 University of Evansville           UE              119
11 University of New Orleans          UNO              83

DAY ONE RECAP

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - The Ball State men's swimming & diving team finished the first day of the 2009 Sun Belt/Mid-American Conference Championships with 79 points to rank fourth out of four MAC squads and ninth of 11 overall teams at the event which is being held at the Nashville Centennial Sportsplex and hosted by Western Kentucky University.

Ball State opened the meet with a ninth-place clocking of 1:33.64 in the 200 medley relay by Tyler Dixon, Gavin McNeeley, Chris Krupa and Austin Laska. BSU earned 40 points for the finish.

In the second event, 3-meter diving, Jeremy Whited placed 22nd with a score of 213.60, while David Linn placed 23rd with a score of 211.80 to give the Cardinals a combined five points.

BSU rounded out the opening day of competition with a 10th-place, 34-point time of 6:55.22 in the 800 freestyle relay. Josh Young, Mark Golden, Mark Augustyn and Ben Karwoski comprised BSU's team for the event.

Ball State's times in both the 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay were season-best efforts for the squad.

Overall, Denver from the Sun Belt leads the meet with 177 points, while Miami is the top MAC school setting in second with 172 points.

Action in the championships continues Thursday with four men's finals on tap, beginning with the 500 freestyle.

Men - Team Rankings After Day 1

1. University of Denver Pioneers     177
2. Miami University (Ohio)           172
3. Eastern Michigan                  165
4. Missouri State University         144
5. Western Kentucky                  136
6. University at Buffalo             133
   Southern Illinois University      133
8. Florida Atlantic University        84
9. Ball State University              79
   University of Evansville           79
11. University of New Orleans         68

MEET PREVIEW:

MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State men's swimming & diving team will look to capitalize on months of training this week, when it travels to Nashville, Tenn., to compete in the 2009 Mid-American Conference Championships Feb. 18-21. The meet, which is run in conjunction with the Sun Belt Championships, will be staged at the Nashville Centennial Sportsplex and hosted by Western Kentucky University.

Teams competing for the MAC Championship are defending title holder Eastern Michigan, along with Ball State, Buffalo and Miami. The Sun Belt will be represented by Denver, Evansville, Florida Atlantic, Missouri State, New Orleans, Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky.

Competition in the four-day event gets underway at 2:30 p.m. (CT) Wednesday (Feb. 18) with the 3-meter diving prelims. Event finals for the opening day being at 7 p.m. (CT) with the 200 medley relay and continue with 3-meter diving and the 800 freestyle relay.

Thursday's (Feb. 19) events begin at 10:30 a.m. (CT) with prelims in the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley and 50 freestyle. Finals for those three events, as well as the 200 freestyle relay begin at 7 p.m. (CT).

On Friday (Feb. 20), the prelims for the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke begin at 10:30 a.m. (CT), while men's 1-meter diving prelims take place at 12:30 p.m. (CT). Event finals will once again be ran at 7 p.m. (CT), with the 400 medley relay rounding out the day's events.

The final day of competition, Saturday (Feb. 21), also opens at 10:30 a.m. (CT) with prelims for the 1650 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke and 200 butterfly. Event finals get underway at 6 p.m. (CT) and conclude with the running of the 400 freestyle relay.

The men's combined meet will be scored as one meet, but student-athletes and teams from each conference will be recognized separately. The top three finishers from each conference will be awarded medals and the top teams from each conference will be named their respective conference champion.

For the men's scoring, twenty-four (24) places will be scored for individual events on the following scale: 32-28-27-26-25-24-23-22-20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1; and to eight places for the relay events on the following scale: 40-34-32-30-28-26.

BALL STATE INDIVIDUALS RANKED IN TOP 10 AMONG MAC SWIMMERS ENTERING THE CHAMPIONSHIPS:
(Note: Miami Did Not Report Men's Scores to the MAC and are not including in rankings)

50 Freestyle:
2. Ben Battjes: 20.94
3. Austin Laska: 21.04