Men's S&D Head to Butler Invitational

MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State men's swimming & diving program competes at the Butler Invitational, joining Lewis University, UIndy, Xavier and Valparaiso for its final stop before the Missouri Valley Conference Championships Sunday afternoon. The invitational takes place at Fishers High School and is scheduled to begin at noon.

At last year's Butler Invitational, Ball State placed atop the leaderboards out of six teams, earning three individual wins and 18 top five finishes for a total of 1205.5 points.

That afternoon, Ball State delivered a dominant performance in the 1650 freestyle with a 1-2-3 finish. Sophomore Seth Blossom took first (15:58.40), just edging by sophomore Tommy Brunner who claimed second (15:58.51). Senior Alexander Eddy earned a third-place finish in the event with a time of 16:27.30.

Fans can follow the action in Sunday's invitational via Meet Mobile.

IN THE MVC RANKINGS
In the latest NCAA Division I Top Time Rankings as compiled by CollegeSwimming.com, the Cardinals have 12 student-athletes ranked in scoring position in their respective events heading into this weekend's meets.

Men's Swimmers Currently Ranked in the MVC Top 16
50 Freestyle: 14th - Jacob Siewers (20.56) / 15th - Ethan Pheifer (20.66) / 16th - AJ Friend (20.73)
100 Freestyle: 11th - Jacob Siewers (44.68)
200 Freestyle: 6th - Jacob Siewers (1:38.04)
500 Freestyle: 3rd - Malcolm Slater (4:27.61) / 8th - Alexander Eddy (4:33.04) / 9th - Tommy Brunner (4:33.80)
1000 Freestyle: 1st - Tommy Brunner (9:25.77) / 6th - Malcolm Slater (9:31.78) / 11th - Seth Blossom (9:43.79)
1650 Freestyle: 1st - Malcolm Slater (15:44.50) / 2nd - Tommy Brunner (15:45.80) / 7th - Alexander Eddy (15:58.21) / 12th - Seth Blossom (16:11.47)
100 Backstroke: T-8th - Ethan Pheifer (49.25)
200 Backstroke: N/A
100 Breaststroke: 6th - Aidan Biddle (55.17) / 7th - Michael Burns (55.21) / 14th - Cutter Shipman (56.11)
200 Breaststroke: 8th - Cutter Shipman (2:02.00) / 9th - Aidan Biddle (2:02.09) / 13th - Michael Burns (2:03.60)
100 Butterfly: T-16th - AJ Friend (49.46)
200 Butterfly: 11th - Michael Mitsynskyy (1:50.99) / 13th - Luke Pryor (1:52.09)
200 IM: T-14th - Michael Burns (1:51.81)
400 IM: 10th - Tommy Brunner (4:01.98)
200 Freestyle Relay: 4th - Ball State (1:21.10)
400 Freestyle Relay: 4th - Ball State (2:59.82)
800 Freestyle Relay: 4th – Ball State (6:44.95)
200 Medley Relay: 5th - Ball State (1:29.67)
400 Medley Relay: 5th - Ball State (3:17.48)

FROM THE DIVING BOARDS:
Junior Porter Brovont currently leads the Cardinals on both the 1M (293.03) and 3M (304.85) boards.

Ball State Divers Top Results in 2024-25
Porter Brovont (Jr.) - 293.03 on 1M / 304.85 on 3M
Mitchell Mauck (Fr.) - 239.63 on 1M / 268.40 on 3M
NCAA Zone Diving Qualifying Marks: 300 on 1M / 320 on 3M

MVC AWARD WINNERS:
So far this season, the Cardinals have already claimed three Missouri Valley Conference weekly award with freshman AJ Friend being named the MVC Men's Freshman of the Week twice and junior Porter Brovont earning MVC Diver of the Week honors once.

Swimming Award Winners:
10/16/2024 - AJ Friend MVC Freshman of the Week
10/23/2024 - AJ Friend MVC Freshman of the Week

Diving Award Winners:
10/23/2024 - Porter Brovont MVC Diver of the Week

EVENT WINNERS:
As a squad, the Cardinals have chalked up 16 individual event wins and two relay victories so far this season.

2024-25 Men's Individual Event Winners (16)
7 - Malcolm Slater (So.)
      Oct. 12 vs. UIC: 200 Freestyle (1:41.42) / 500 Freestyle (4:41.59)
      Oct. 18 at Miami: 500 Freestyle (4:36.99) / 1000 Freestyle (9:38.82)
Nov. 23 at Bellarmine: 500 Freestyle (4:41.30) / 1000 Freestyle (9:36.95)
Dec. 7 at Miami Invitational: 1650 Freestyle (15.44.50)

3 - AJ Friend (Fr.)
      Oct. 12 vs. UIC: 50 Freestyle (21.43) / 100 Butterfly (51.38)
      Oct. 18 at Miami: 50 Freestyle (21.33)

2 – Porter Brovont (Jr.)
      Oct. 18 at Miami: 1M Diving (267.75) / 3M Diving (285.95)

2 - Jacob Siewers (Jr.)
      Oct. 12 vs. UIC: 100 Freestyle (46.84)

    Nov. 23 at Bellarmine: 100 Freestyle (46.59)

1 - Tommy Brunner (So.)
      Jan. 10 vs. UIndy and SIU: 1000 Freestyle (9:25.77)

1 - Ethan Pheifer (Sr.)
      Oct. 12 vs. UIC: 100 Backstroke (52.08)

2024-25 Men's Relay Winners (2)
2 - 400 Freestyle Relay
      Oct. 12 vs. UIC: Friend, Young, Clarkston, Siewers (3:08.05)
Nov. 23 at Bellarmine: Clarkston, Friend, Perkowski, Siewers (3:07.99)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Aidan Biddle

Seth Blossom

Porter Brovont

Tommy Brunner

Michael Burns

Alexander Eddy

AJ Friend

Mitchell Mauck

Michael Mitsynskyy

Ethan Pheifer

Luke Pryor

Cutter Shipman

Jacob Siewers

Malcolm Slater