Women's S&D Travles to Indiana State Friday

MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State women's swimming and diving team closes the 2020-21 regular season Friday, when it travels to Terre Haute to battle in-state rival Indiana State as well as Southern Illinois.

The Cardinals (4-2), Sycamores (7-2) and Salukis (5-1) will battle it out in a double-dual meet with events beginning at 1 p.m. in the Vigo County Aquatic Center.

Friday's line-up is expected to include:
400 Medley Relay, 1000 free, 200 free, 100 back, 100 breast, 200 fly, 50 free, 1M diving, 100 free, 200 back, 200 breast, 500 free, 100 fly, 3M diving, 200 IM, 200 free relay.

Friday's meet is the final tune-up for the Cardinals before the Mid-American Conference Championships on April 15-17 in Ypsilanti, Mich.

IN THE MAC RANKINGS:
In the latest USA Swimming Mid-American Conference Top Times report, the Cardinals have eight student-athletes ranked in scoring position in their respective events with a little more than a month remaining until the MAC Championships hosted by Eastern Michigan (April 15-17).

In addition, two Cardinals are ranked in the top 16 in the 50 backstroke.

WOMEN SWIMMERS CURRENTLY RANKED IN MAC TOP 16:
Championship Events:
200 Freestyle: Marcella Ribeiro (1:51.54 – 13^th)
500 Freestyle: Marcella Ribeiro (4:58.20 – 12^th)
1000 Freestyle: Marcella Ribeiro (10:18.08 - 5th) / Katie Walker (10:24.45 – 11th)
100 Backstroke: Shelby Crist (55.82 - 12th)
100 Breaststroke: Alex Bader (1:01.92 - 4th) / Laura Wright (1:04.01 - 14th)
200 Breaststroke: Laura Wright (2:17.50 - 8th) / Alex Bader (2:18.33 - 10th) / Jenn Gillen (2:19.57 - 14th)
100 Butterfly: Phoebe Rensink (56.23 - 16th)
200 Butterlfy: Sydney Dygert (2:02.94 - 14th)

Non-Championship Events:
50 Backstroke: Audrey Schank (25.69 - 5th) / Shelby Crist (26.40 - 11th)

PROGRAM RECORD ALERT:
Senior diver Caitlin Locante has etched her name in the Ball State diving record book, setting the program record in both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards this season.

In fact, she set the program record on the 3-meter board twice, with the first coming with a score of 323.625 in a diving dual versus UIndy on Jan. 16.

She then broke the program record on both boards in a diving dual at Miami (Feb. 26), winning the 1-meter with a score of 305.48 and the 3-meter with a score of 347.78.

LOCANTE AT ZONES:
With her two program records at Miami, Caitlin Locante locked up her second trip to the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships which were held earlier this week.

Locante finished 23rd on the 3-meter board and 28th on the 1-meter board with scores of 207.40 and 229.35, respectively.

Locante had several spectacular individual dives as well, with the ninth-best opening round dive and the 10th-best fifth round dive on the 3-meter board.

READ MORE ABOUT LOCANTE AT ZONES HERE

WOMEN'S SEASON HIGHLIGHTS:
The women's swimming & diving program enters the weekend with a 4-2 record, including wins over Eastern Illinois (Nov. 6), Bowling Green (Nov. 7), Bellarmine (Jan. 16) and Xavier (Feb. 13). The two losses came against a pair of the league's elite programs; Miami (Feb. 12) and Akron (March 13).

In the first meet of the season, the women beat Eastern Illinois 165-92 and claimed the top spot in all 12 individual events and the 200 medley relay. Most notably, sophomore Apsara Sakbun won both the 50 free (24.17) and the 200 back (2:07.08). Sakbun was also part of the winning 200 medley relay team.

The second meet of the season brought a victory against Bowling Green with Ball State winning 172-127. The Cardinals won nine events with Phoebe Rensink and Sakbun each picking up two individual victories. Once again, Sakbun was part of the winning 200 medley relay.

After not competing for over a month, Ball State came out strong in the first meet of 2021 and dominated Bellarmine with a score of 165.5-80.5. The Cardinals had 12 overall victories with Marcella Ribeiro, Rensink, and Sakbun all picking up two individual victories each.

Despite picking up seven individual event wins at Miami, the Cardinals suffered a hard-fought 155-137 setback to their MAC-rival RedHawks. One of the biggest stories of the day was Caitlin Locante sweeping the diving events, Katie Walker, Audrey Schank, Alex Bader, Sophia Kuehn and Laura Wright each picked up a win in the pool.

The Cardinals were able to rebound nicely following the loss at Miami, swimming past Xavier by a score of 166-80. The Cardinals won 13 of 14 events and set four pool records, keeping their record perfect at home.

The day started with a pool record in the 200 medley relay (1:42.24) set by Schank, Bader, Shelby Crist, and Sakbun.

Bader went on to set another pool record with her win in the 100 breast (1:01.92). Sydney Dygert and Wright joined her by setting their own pool records in the 200 fly (2:02.94) and the 200 breast (2:17.50), respectively.

In their most recent meet, the Cardinals suffered a 208-91 setback at seven-time defending MAC Champion Akron. Despite the loss, Ball State ended up with 15 top three finishes which included three event wins, six second-place efforts and six third-place finishes.

The star of the meet was Ribeiro who won both the 200 (1:51.54) and 500 (4:58.20) freestyles, earning herself a place in program history. Her 200 time is the sixth-fastest in program history while her 500 time is the fifth-fastest.

Walker also joined Ribeiro in making history as her 1000 freestyle (10:24.45) took second and landed her seventh on the Cardinals' all-time list.

Bader picked up another individual win in the 100 breast (1:02.90) which is her fifth win in the event on the season.

Individual Event Winners (56 Total):
8 - Apsara Sakbun (So.): vs. Eastern Illinois (11/6/20) - 50 Freestyle (24.17), 200 Backstroke (2:07.08)
         vs. Bowling Green (11/7/20) - 50 Freestyle (24.15), 100 Freestyle (52.76)
         vs. Bellarmine (1/16/21) - 50 Freestyle (24.41), 100 Freestyle (52.52)
         vs. Xavier (2/13/21) – 50 Freestyle (23.82), 100 Freestyle (51.38)

6 - Phoebe Rensink (So.): vs. Eastern Illinois (11/6/20) - 200 Butterfly (2:08.18)
         vs. Bowling Green (11/7/20) - 200 Butterfly (2:08.39), 100 Butterfly (58.01)
         vs. Bellarmine (1/16/21) - 200 Butterfly (2:07.62), 200 IM (2:09.87)
         vs. Xavier (2/13/21) – 100 Butterfly (56.61)

6 - Caitlin Locante (Sr.): vs. UIndy (1/16/21) - 1M Diving (253.425), 3M Diving (323.625 - NCAA Zone / Program Record)
         at Miami (2/12/21) – 1M diving (296.25 – NCAA Zone), 3M diving (314.25)
         at Miami (2/26/21) – 1M diving (305.48 – Program Record), 3M diving (347.78 – Program Record)

5 - Katie Walker (Jr.): vs. Eastern Illinois (11/6/20) - 500 Freestyle (5:13.05)
         vs. Bowling Green (11/7/20) - 1000 Freestyle (10:37.91)
         vs. Bellarmine (1/16/21) - 1000 Freestyle (10:38.92)
         at Miami (2/12/21) – 1000 Freestyle (10:32.52)
         vs. Xavier (2/13/21) – 400 IM (4:29.07)

5 - Laura Wright (Fr.): vs. Eastern Illinois (11/6/20) - 200 Breaststroke (2:22.01)
         vs. Bowling Green (11/7/20) - 200 Breaststroke (2:24.20)
         vs. Bellarmine (1/16/21) - 200 Breaststroke (2:23.31)
         at Miami (2/12/21) – 200 Breaststroke (2:20.01)
         vs. Xavier (2/13/21) – 200 Breaststroke (2:17.50 – Lewellen Pool Record)

5 - Alex Bader (Sr.): vs. Bowling Green (11/7/20) – 100 Breaststroke (1:05.62)
         vs. Bellarmine (1/16/21) - 100 Breaststroke (1:04.81)
         at Miami (2/12/21) – 100 Breaststroke (1:02.91)
         vs. Xavier (2/13/21) – 100 Breaststroke (1:01.92 – Lewellen Pool Record)
         at Akron (3/13/21) – 100 Breaststroke (1:02.90)

5 - Marcella Ribeiro (Fr.): vs. Bellarmine (1/16/21) – 200 Freestyle (1:53.56), 500 Freestyle (5:04.49)
         vs. Xavier (2/13/21) – 1000 Freestyle (10:18.08)
         at Akron (3/13/21) – 200 Freestyle (1:51.54), 500 Freestyle (4:58.20)

4 - Sophia Kuehn (Fr.): vs. Eastern Illinois (11/6/20) - 200 IM (2:09.50)
         vs. Bowling Green (11/7/20) - 400 IM (4:42.43)
         vs. Bellarmine (1/16/21) - 200 Backstroke (2:08.05)
         at Miami (2/12/21) – 200 Backstroke (2:06.81)

3 - Shelby Crist (So.): vs. Eastern Illinois (11/6/20) - 100 Backstroke (58.30)
         vs. Bellarmine (1/16/21) - 100 Backstroke (57.81)
         vs. Xavier (2/13/21) – 100 Backstroke (55.82)

2 - Sydney Dygert (So.): vs. Eastern Illinois (11/6/20) - 100 Butterfly (59.22)
         vs. Xavier (2/13/21) – 200 Butterfly (2:02.94 – Pool Record)

2 - Alexa McDonald (Jr.): vs. Eastern Illinois (11/6/20) - 100 Breaststroke (1:06.83), 100 Freestyle (54.24)

2 - Mary Kate Phillips (Fr.): vs. Eastern Illinois (11/6/20) - 1000 Freestyle (10:48.01)
         vs. Xavier (2/13/21) – 500 Freestyle (5:08.34)

1 - Kya Pawli (Fr.): vs. Eastern Illinois (11/6/20) - 200 Freestyle (1:57.02)

1 – Audrey Schank (Sr.): at Miami (2/12/21) – 100 Backstroke (59.01)

1 – Kayleigh Witt (Fr.): vs. Xavier (2/13/21) – 200 Freestyle (1:52.89)

Relay Event Winners (5 Total):
vs. Eastern Illinois (11/6/20)
200 Medley Relay - Audrey Schank, Laura Wright, Shelby Crist, Apsara Sakbun - 1:45.35

vs. Bowling Green (11/7/20)
200 Medley Relay - Audrey Schank, Laura Wright, Shelby Crist, Apsara Sakbun - 1:46.36

vs. Bellarmine (1/16/21)
200 Medley Relay - Shelby Crist, Laura Wright, Phoebe Rensink, Kayleigh Witt (1:47.36)

vs. Xavier (2/13/21)
200 Medley Relay - Audrey Schank, Alex Bader, Shelby Crist, Apsara Sakbun (1:42.24 - Pool Record)
200 Freestyle Relay - Kayleigh Witt, Alexa McDonald, Alex Bader, Apsara Sakbun (1:35.27)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alex Bader

Shelby Crist

Sydney Dygert

Jenn Gillen

Sophia Kuehn

Caitlin Locante

Alexa McDonald

Kya Pawli

Mary Kate Phillips

Phoebe Rensink

Marcella Ribeiro

Apsara Sakbun

Audrey Schank

Katie Walker

Kayleigh Witt

Laura Wright