Ball State men’s swim and dive fell to No.19-ranked Notre Dame on senior night by the score 148.5-82.5 at Lewellen Aquatic Center. 

Head coach Bob Thomas said sophomore Cullen Tyler stood out the most in today’s meet.

“He won the 100 breaststroke and had our only victory in this meet,” Thomas said. “He was definitely on a big roll for us and it was good to see.”

Tyler had decreased his dual meet time from a 1:01.99 to 58.78. Tyler said the win felt great against Notre Dame.

“I did not expect to get first against Notre Dame,” Tyler said. “But it was great to be able to get first.”

Another swimmer that dropped time was freshman Adam Pongracz. He swam a personal best time in the 200-yard freestyle with the time 1:48.13. Pongracz said he was very glad about his time.

“I’m happy to see myself drop in something,” Pongracz said.

Before the meet started, the seniors were recognized for being on the team for four years. 

Senior Bradley Ridge said he will remember his younger teammates stepping up big-time.

“I will remember seeing [freshmen and sophomores] stepping up in situations that are hard, stressful and push their bodies to the limit,” Ridge said. “These last few days we have had hard practices, but seeing them continue to drop times in events has been incredible.”

On the boards, sophomore Gabe Dean placed third on both one-meter and three-meters. Head diving coach Nick Gayes said Dean struggled in this meet.

“[Dean] felt like he did not have a very good day,” Gayes said. “But if you compare today’s points to in mid-season, you can see that he is above that, which really upsets him.”

But Dean said overall his dives were good.

“Just like last week, I had made some good dives and missed a couple of dives,” Dean said. “I think I was a little nervous about Notre Dame coming in, which affected my three-meter dives.”

The Cardinals' next meet is at 1 p.m. Feb. 11 at Miami.

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