Women's S&D Heads To Indy For House Of Champions

MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State women's swimming & diving program closes the first half of the 2023-24 season at the three-day House of Champions invitational hosted by IUPUI at the prestigious IUPUI Natatorium.

Action begins at 10 a.m. Thursday and will run through the 6 p.m. finals session on Saturday. A complete event schedule can be found below.

Joining the Cardinals and host Jaguars on the women's side will be Arkansas Little Rock, Butler, Lewis, Lynn, Milwaukee, Missouri - St. Louis, North Texas, Quincy and UIC.

The Ball State women's team last competed at the House of Champions invitational during the 2021-22 season, placing second among the then-nine team field.

EVENT LINEUP - 2023 IUPUI HOUSE OF CHAMPIONS:
Prelims - 10a / Diving - 1p / Finals - 6p
Thursday: 200 Freestyle Relay, 500 Freestyle, 200 IM, 50 Freestyle, 400 Medley Relay
Friday: 200 Medley Relay, 100 Butterfly, 400 IM, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, 3M Diving, 800 Freestyle Relay
Saturday: 200 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle, 200 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly, 1M Diving, 1650 Freestyle, 400 Freestyle Relay

Live Results for the meet will be available on Meet Mobile

IN THE MAC RANKINGS:
In the latest NCAA Division I Top Time Rankings as compiled by CollegeSwimming.com, the Cardinals have seven student-athletes ranked in scoring position in their respective events heading into the House of Champions invitational.

Leading the way is sophomore Payton Kelly who is first in the Mid-American Conference in the 50 freestyle with her relay split of 22.64 and is fourth in the 100 freestyle at 50.58.

Women's Swimmers Currently Ranked in the MAC Top 16
50 Freestyle: 1st - Payton Kelly (22.64 - relay split)
100 Freestyle: 4th - Payton Kelly (50.58)
200 Freestyle: 8th - Payton Kelly (1:52.14) / 14th - Kiran Stauffer (1:53.26)
500 Freestyle: 10th - Marcella Ribeiro (5:03.27) / 11th - Kayla Newman (5:04.58) / 14th - Kiran Stauffer (5:05.23)
1000 Freestyle: 3rd - Kayla Newman (10:20.96) / 4th - Marcella Ribeiro (10:23.99) / 13th - Kiran Stauffer (10:35.33)
100 Backstroke: 15th - Hannah Jones (56.88)
100 Breaststroke: 7th - Laura Wright (1:04.07)
200 Breaststroke: 6th - Laura Wright (2:19.88)
100 Butterfly: 10th - Alexa Von Holtz (56.42)
200 Butterfly: 7th - Alexa Von Holtz (2:02.98)
200 IM: 13th - Alexa Von Holtz (2:07.15)
200 Freestyle Relay: 3rd (1:33.41)
400 Freestyle Relay: 2nd (3:26.82)
200 Medley Relay: 7th (1:44.60)
400 Medley Relay: 4th (3:49.52)

FROM THE DIVING BOARDS:
Two meets into the season and senior transfer Grace Walker leads the Cardinals on both diving boards with a 1M score of 286.28 and a 3M score of 286.20, both of which are NCAA Zone Diving qualifying marks.

Ball State Divers Top Results in 2023-24
Grace Walker (Sr.) - 286.28* on 1M / 286.20* on 3M
Leelah Fettig (Fr.) - 227.40 on 1M / 215.55 on 3M
Ella Penny (Fr.) - 217.73 on 1M / 185.18 on 3M
Ava Pavich (Fr.) - 197.78 on 1M
Hannah Justice (So.) - 189.65 on 1M
* = NCAA Zone Diving Qualifying Score

MAC AWARD WINNERS:
Ball State has already claimed a pair of Mid-American Conference weekly awards this season, with sophomore freestyle sprint specialist Payton Kelly earning MAC Swimmer of the Week honors twice.

Award Winners:
10/25/2023 - Payton Kelly MAC Swimmer of the Week
11/8/2023 - Payton Kelly MAC Swimmer of the Week

EVENT WINNERS:
As a squad, the Cardinals have chalked up 33 individual event wins and five relay victories so far this season. Sophomore Payton Kelly and freshman Alexa Von Holtz lead the way with eight individual event wins apiece, while Laura Wright is right behind with seven.

2023-24 Women's Individual Event Winners (33 Total)
8 - Payton Kelly (So.)
   Oct. 21 at Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate - 50 Freestyle (23.12) / 100 Freestyle (50.82)
   Oct. 28 at Buffalo - 50 Freestyle (23.05) / 100 Freestyle (50.58)
   Nov. 3 vs. IUPUI - 200 Freestyle (1:52.14) / 100 Freestyle (50.97)
   Nov. 4 vs. Eastern Michigan - 50 Freestyle (23.16) / 100 Freestyle (50.83)

8 - Alexa Von Holtz (Fr.)
   Oct. 28 at Buffalo - 100 Butterfly (56.42) / 200 Butterfly (2:02.98) / 200 IM (2:07.44)
   Nov. 3 vs. IUPUI - 200 Butterfly (2:05.42) / 400 IM (4:34.37)
   Nov. 4 vs. Eastern Michigan - 200 Butterfly (2:04.37) / 100 Butterfly (56.92) / 200 IM (2:07.15)

7 - Laura Wright (Sr.)
   Oct. 21 at Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate - 100 Breaststroke (1:04.07)
   Oct. 28 at Buffalo - 100 Breaststroke (56.88) / 200 Breaststroke (2:19.98)
   Nov. 3 vs. IUPUI - 100 Breaststroke (1:04.57) / 200 Breaststroke (2:20.60)
   Nov. 4 vs. Eastern Michigan - 100 Breaststroke (1:05.06) / 200 Breaststroke (2:21.33)

3 - Kayla Newman (Fr.)
   Oct. 28 at Buffalo - 500 Freestyle (5:04.58) / 1000 Freestyle (10:20.96)
   Nov. 4 vs. Eastern Michigan - 1000 Freestyle (10:24.44)

2 - Lilia Newkirk (Jr.)
   Nov. 3 vs. IUPUI - 100 Backstroke (57.58) / 200 Backstroke (2:06.02)

2 - Marcella Ribeiro (Sr)
   Nov. 4 vs. Eastern Michigan - 200 Freestyle (1:54.22) / 500 Freestyle (5:05.86)

2 - Grace Walker (Sr.)
   Nov. 3 vs. IUPUI - 3M Diving (275.25) / 1M Diving (286.28)

1 - Hannah Jones (Jr.)
   Nov. 3 vs. IUPUI - 50 Freestyle (24.89)

2023-24 Women's Relay Event Winners (5 Total)
2 - 200 Medley Relay
   Oct. 28 at Buffalo - Lilia Newkirk, Laura Wright, Hannah Jones, Payton Kelly (1:44.60)
   Nov. 3 vs. IUPUI - Hannah Jones, Laura Wright, Eliza Bader, Payton Kelly (1:45.10)

2 - 400 Medley Relay
   Oct. 28 at Buffalo - Marcella Ribeiro, Kiran Stauffer, Haley Sakbun, Payton Kelly (3:26.82)
   Nov. 4 vs. Eastern Michigan - Lilia Newkirk, Laura Wright, Alexa Von Holtz, Payton Kelly (3:49.52)

1 - 200 Freestyle Relay
   Nov. 4 vs. Eastern Michigan - Natalie Marshall, Kiran Stauffer, Hannah Jones, Payton Kelly (1:35.89)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Eliza Bader

Hannah Jones

Payton Kelly

Natalie Marshall

Lilia Newkirk

Kayla Newman

Marcella Ribeiro

Haley Sakbun

Kiran Stauffer

Alexa Von Holtz

Grace Walker

Laura Wright