Ball State University Athletics
Men's Swim & Dive Continues Season With Two-Day Invitational
December 05, 2015 | Men's Swimming and Diving
YPSILANTI, Mich. - The Ball State men's swimming and diving team continues the 2015-16 season with action at the two-day Eastern Michigan Invitational on Friday afternoon. In the first of two days of competition, the Cardinals participated in six events and posted a team score of 197 to sit third overall.
To open the action, sophomore Isaac Walling, junior JD Middleton and freshman Alex Nickoli all took on the 1650 freestyle. The three combined to tally 36 points for Ball State after finishing fifth (16:30.24), sixth (16:44.88) and ninth (17:25.76), respectively.
The event was followed up by the 200 backstroke in which sophomore Nate Slack finished eighth (1:59.13), while Middleton followed narrowly behind to mark a 1:59.19 final for ninth.
Senior Cole Smith marked the highest Ball State finish on the day when he touched the wall in 46.50 in the 100 free. The effort earned Smith second place overall, while Andrew Carlson finished 11th (47.60), Banistre Lienhart finished 14th (48.11) and Logan Kisinger finished 18th (49.21) in the same event.
The freshman class shined in the 200 breaststroke, when Cullen Tyler led the team with a 2:11.02 time for seventh. Zach Reichle followed with a 2:13.40 final, while Luke Nondorf marked a 2:14.54 time as well. Sophomore Zach Toman also participated in the event and finished with a 2:15.80 time.
Junior Bradley Ridge finished sixth overall in the final individual event of the day, the 200 fly, with a 1:53.09 time. Just behind him in seventh was Tanner Barton with a 1:54.04 mark, Jacob Eckert with a 1:55.64 final, and Jeremy Taylor, who touched the wall in 2:00.06.
Rounding out the first day of competition in Ypsilanti was done when Kisinger, Lienhart, Carlson and Smith marked a 3:10.06 time in the 400 freestyle relay and cinched fourth overall. Reichle, Jack Hart, Tyler and Middleton were close behind in the event and touched the wall in 3:16.74.
After the first six events of the two day Invitational, Eastern Michigan dominates action in the pool with a team score of 352. Wayne State sits in second with 223 points, followed by Ball State's 197 points. Ashland University follows with 166 points, while Tiffin State rounds out fifth with a team score of 52.
The Ball State men's swimming and diving team will complete action at the Eastern Michigan Invitational tomorrow.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's swimming and diving action, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMSwim on Twitter.
