Women?s S&D Opens Season at Evansville Saturday

October 21, 2011 | Women's Swimming and Diving

By: Ball State Athletics

MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State women's swimming & diving team officially opens its 2011-12 season Saturday as the squad travels to Evansville for a meet starting at 1 p.m. at Roy and Mary Wyttenbach Pool.

Under the direction of head coach Laura Seibold-Caudill, entering her 33rd and final season at Ball State, the Cardinals return 24 letterwinners from last season's squad which posted 12 school records and 18 performances which rank in the top three in program history.

“First of all I am looking forward to going down there, this is the first time since the early 80's that we've been to Evansville for a meet and it will be exciting,” Seibold-Caudill said. “They are certainly a team to be recognized in the state. We are recruiting against them all of the time, but I think right now we have the upper hand. We have a lot more depth and I think that is what is going to show at the end of the meet.”

This season, a six-member senior class looks to lead the way for the Cardinals who were responsible for four of the top-three efforts. Nicole Saulters (Highland, Ind./Highland) posted a school-record time of 26.18 in the 50 back, the second-best time in program history in the 100 back (55.82) and is a member of the program record-setting 200 medley relay (1:43.19) and 400 medley relay (3:45.69) at the Mid-American Conference Championships.

Fellow senior Christina Riordan (Homewood, Ill./Homewood Flossmoor) posted the program record in the 3-meter dive (312.00) at Buffalo as she joins classmates Whitney Adams (Danville, Ind./Danville), Katie Balko (Crown Point, Ind./Merrillville), Sara Hostetler (Vincennes, Ind./Jasper) and Elizabeth Spilman (Bristol, Ind./Northridge).

Also leading the way for Ball State during the 2011-12 season is an eight-member junior class in Jillian Bischoff (Atlanta, Ind./Hamilton Heights) - a member of the program record-holding 800 freestyle relay (7:32.35), Dana Graunke (Colgate, Wis./Germantown), Natalie Grissom (Franklin, Ind./Franklin), Mackenzie Imbro (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville), Jennifer Miles (Fishers, Ind./Fishers), Mallory Przybylinski (Chesteron, Ind./Chesterton) - who also collected a school record last season as a member of the 200 medley relay, and Cori Vormohr (Portland, Ind./Jay County), in addition to transfer Katelyn Pratt-Collins from Buffalo.

Ball State opens its home schedule next weekend at Lewellen Aquatic Center with contests versus Milwaukee-Wisconsin Friday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. and MAC foe Bowling Green Saturday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m.