Three Event Wins Leads to Solid Day for Women’s Swimming & Diving

Saturday, October 16

West Lafayette, IN

Noon

Ball State University

Indiana Intercollegiates (Hosted by Purdue)

Three Event Wins Leads to Solid Day for Women’s Swimming & Diving

October 16, 2021 | Women's Swimming and Diving

2021 Indiana Intercollegiates Results

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - - Led by three individual event victories, the Ball State women's swimming & diving program opened the 2021-22 season with a second-place finish among 12 teams at the highly competitive Indiana Intercollegiates hosted by Purdue Saturday afternoon.

"I think I was most excited about the overall depth of our lineup from top to bottom," head coach J. Agnew said after the meet. "We had a few typical first meet jitters, but once we got a few races under our belt, you could see the confidence grow."

In addition to the three event wins, the Cardinals finished the competition with 30 total top 10 finishes to earn 501.5 points. That effort trailed only host Boilermakers' score of 641.5. BSU's total was 145.5 points ahead of third-place Indiana State.

It did not take Ball State's swimmers long to find the win column Saturday, as junior Apsara Sakbun tied for top honors in the third event of the day, clocking in at 23.94 in the 50 freestyle.

That was not the only event win for the Terre Haute, Indiana, native either, as Sakbun would go on to claim top billing in the 100 freestyle. In fact, her blistering season debut of 51.74 in the event was almost a full second ahead of the runner-up from Indiana State.

Sakbun would also start the meet strong, combining with freshman Hannah Jones, senior Alex Bader, and junior Shelby Crist to swim anchor for the second-place 200 medley relay (1:45.05).

Speaking of strong debuts, Jones made the most of her first collegiate meet by also winning the 100 backstroke in 57.18. The effort was just .16 seconds shy of breaking into the top 10 on Ball State's all-time list for the event. In the first individual event of her Ball State career, Jones would place seventh in the 50 free in 24.52.

Also turning in impressive performances in their Ball State debuts were freshman Lilia Newkirk who took second in the 100 backstroke (57.46) and freshman Abby Hartshorne who placed third in the 100 butterfly (56.73) and fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:55.36).

"Apsara had two big wins for us and really gave our team the spark we needed to get going for the day," Agnew said. "Hannah Jones along with her freshman classmate Lilia Newkirk going 1-2 in the 100 backstroke announced their presence on the collegiate scene with authority. These women came to play!"

In addition to the event wins, sophomore Marcella Ribeiro would go on to place second in both the 200 (1:54.88) and 500 (5:05.89) freestyle events.

Leading the Cardinals on the diving board was freshman Ashleigh Provan who scored 261.60 points to place sixth on the 3m board. Sophomore Maddie Gleave was BSU's top performer on the 1m board, scoring 225.50.

The Ball State women's swimming & diving program will host an Alumni Meet Friday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. in the Lewellen Aquatic Center, before returning to action at Eastern Illinois for a 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. CT) competition on Oct. 29.

Ball State Individual / Relay Results at the Indiana Intercollegiates
200 Medley Relay
2nd - Hannah Jones, Alex Bader, Shelby Crist, Apsara Sakbun - 1:45.05
6th - Lilia Newkirk, Laura Wright, Phoebe Rensink, Elizabeth King - 1:48.31x
9th - Meri Gray, Jenn Gillen, Sydney Dygert, Sophia Kuehn - 1:51.86x

200 Freestyle
2nd - Marcella Ribeiro - 1:54.88
4th - Abby Hartshorne - 1:55.36
11th - Kayleigh Witt - 1:57.23
13th - Phoebe Rensink - 1:58.15
14th - Kya Pawli - 1:58.16
15th - Jessie Fraley - 1:58.23
16th - Elizabeth King - 1:58.39
18th - Mary Kate Phillips - 1:58.69
20th - Alexa Arkenberg - 1:59.26
42nd - Jenn Gillen - 2:07.19

50 Freestyle
T-1st - Apsara Sakbun - 23.94
5th - Gracey Payne - 24.35
7th - Hannah Jones - 24.52
13th - Eliza Bader - 25.02
19th - MaKayla Miller - 25.47
22nd - Emma Horton - 25.83
40th - Meri Gray - 26.72

100 IM
4th - Alex Bader - 1:00.18
6th - Abbie McCarter - 1:00.40
8th - Shelby Crist - 1:00.80
11th - Sophia Kuehn - 1:01.49
15th - Cecilia Moore - 1:02.53
19th - Laura Wright - 1:02.99

100 Butterfly
3rd - Abby Hartshorne - 56.73
4th - Phoebe Rensink - 56.74
12th - Lilia Newkirk - 58.58
17th - Katie Walker - 59.31
18th - Eliza Bader - 59.84
23rd - Kya Pawli - 1:00.68

100 Freestyle
1st - Apsara Sakbun - 51.74
5th - Alexa McDonald - 53.07
11th - Elizabeth King - 54.68
13th - MaKayla Miller - 55.26
17th - Emma Horton - 56.10

100 Backstroke
1st - Hannah Jones - 57.18
2nd - Lilia Newkirk - 57.46
4th - Shelby Crist - 57.78
9th - Jessie Fraley - 58.74
11th - Cecilia Moore - 59.82
12th - Kayleigh Witt - 1:00.25
16th - Sophia Kuehn - 1:00.64
20th - Alexa Arkenberg - 1:01.37
25th - Meri Gray - 1:02.59

500 Freestyle
2nd - Marcella Ribeiro - 5:05.89
3rd - Katie Walker - 5:06.59
9th - Mary Kate Phillips - 5:15.68

100 Breaststroke
4th - Alex Bader - 1:05.09
5th - Laura Wright - 1:05.70
6th - Alexa McDonald - 1:06.60
7th - Abbie McCarter - 1:06.80
16th - Jenn Gillen - 1:09.42

200 Freestyle Relay
3rd - Gracey Payne, Abby Hartshorne, Alexa McDonald, Kayleigh Witt - 1:37.91
7th - Kya Pawli, MaKayla Miller, Abbie McCarter, Eliza Bader - 1:40.32x

1M Diving
10th - Maddie Gleave - 225.50
12th - Ashleigh Provan - 214.35
14th - Madison Gatzlaff - 208.45

3M Diving
6th - Ashleigh Provan - 261.60
9th - Madison Gatzlaff - 238.70
12th - Maddie Gleave - 207.50