Ball State women's swim and dive head to Akron

Ball State women’s swim and dive is on the road for the second time this season, going up against the University of Akron Oct. 28.

The team hosted its annual Red and White meet Oct. 8 and is back on the road a few weeks later. Head coach Kristy Patterson said the intrasquad meet showed the team's potential.

“We did extremely well at Red and White, as well as at Purdue this past weekend,” Patterson said. “The results were definitely ahead of where we were last year at this time.”

The team lost two seniors last year, but gained seven freshmen. Two of the freshmen are on the diving team, and five compete with the team in the pool. Patterson said they have been great additions.

“The seven new freshman are a huge impact to our program,” Patterson said. “They are elevating the level of our program and where we are at starting off.”

Patterson said she is happy with the team's success so far this season. She hopes they keep it up during their away and home meets.

The team only has four home meets, so they are on the road a majority of this season.

Senior captain Kimberly Scott said it’s always hard being on the road because they love home meets, but it's also exciting.

“Last year, we were on the road a lot,” Scott said. “I think, in a way, being on the road is more of a challenge because it’s an opportunity to swim at different pools.”

Scott said they are preparing for the meet differently this week. The competition has different events than they have competed in in the past two meets. They have already competed in 200 individual medley events, but this weekend they are participating in the 400 individual medley events and the 1,000 free style.

Scott said while some members are competing in the same events, not everyone is.

"Others are swimming longer events and are training differently in preparation for that,” Scott said.

Patterson said the team is competing in more events this season. This will be another test to see how they compare to opponents. The meet on Oct. 28 is a dual meet and will start at 5 p.m. at Akron.