Ball State University
Mid-American Conference Championship
Men?s Swim & Dive Completes Conference Championships
March 06, 2016 | Men's Swimming and Diving
YPSILANTI, Mich. - The Ball State men's swimming and diving team rounded out the 2016 Mid-American Conference Championships hosted by Eastern Michigan on Saturday evening with an sixth place finish and 147 points.
In the final day of the four day competition, Ball State had two individual swimmers compete in the finals of the 200 butterfly. Junior Bradley Ridge earned points for Ball State for the second day in a row as he placed 14th overall with a new season-best of 1:51.04 for three points, by shaving down his previous season-best by nearly two seconds. Ridge also scored individually for the Cardinals in the 100 butterfly event on the third day of competition by touching the wall in 49.28 to finish 10th overall.
Ridge was joined in the finals of the same event this evening by junior Tanner Barton, who clocked a 1:51.74 time for a 15th overall finish and two points for the Cardinals. The Dublin, Ohio native also reached a season-best time of 1:51.31 in the prelims earlier today.
Senior Cole Smith was the second Ball State swimmer to tally two scoring swims in the MAC Championships when he touched the wall in 45.68 in the 100 freestyle. Smith earned 14th place honors as well as three points, while marking a new season-best time by nearly one second. Back on the second day of competition, Smith finished 16th overall with a 21.91 time in the 50 freestyle to earn one point.
Sophomore Isaac Walling was the final Cardinal to tally points individually for Ball State as he came in with a 16:18.44 time in the 1650 freestyle for 16th place. The Columbus, Ind. native dramatically cut from his previous season-best time of 16:30.24 to earn one point for Ball State.
The four day competition was rounded out by relay action, including the 800 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay. Barton first combined with junior JD Middleton, sophomore Banistre Lienhart and sophomore Andrew Carlson in the 800 free relay to shatter the previous Ball State season-best of 7:09.51 with a sixth place finish and 26 points in a 6:51.90 fashion. Barton then teamed up with Carlson, Smith and junior Austin Green in the 400 free relay to finish sixth place overall by marking a Ball State season-best time of 3:04.39.
Over the course of the 2016 MAC Championships, the Cardinals combined to earn top-16 finishes on 13 occasions, as well as top-8 finishes in six events.
Host school Eastern Michigan was able to seal its second consecutive MAC Championship title with a performance of 846 points, while Buffalo earned second with 649 points. Missouri State earned third place with 634 points, while the Cardinals edged Evansville who marked 142 points.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State men's swimming and diving action, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMSwim on Twitter.
Players Mentioned
