Ball State women's swimming and diving will finish up its season at the Mid-American Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.
This year's conference meet will span over the course of four days — Wednesday through Saturday — and will feature all eight conference schools. As a team, Ball State started off the season strong, winning the six-squad Indiana Intercollegiate and beating Illinois State, Tiffin and Grand Valley State.
Against conference opponents, however, its been a harder year for the Cardinals. Losses against Ohio, Toledo, Eastern Michigan and, most recently, Buffalo on senior night, as well as a sixth place finish at the Miami Invitational, tell the story of the team's conference season.
Last year, the Cardinals placed eighth at the championships, earning 161.5 points. First place went to Akron, who won its fourth MAC Championship in a row with 750 points, and is the favorite to win it again this year. In the 2017 meet, Ball State senior Amanda Kedzierski became the program's second all-time leader in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:02.94. In the 3m dive, sophomore Rachel Bertram set a personal best with a score of 294.40.
The official heat sheets will not be released until the scratch deadline for each day's events, but here's a schedule of the four-day meet.
Wednesday, Feb. 21
Warm-ups
7 p.m. – Championship heat for 200 medley relay, 800 freestyle relay
Thursday, Feb. 22
Prelims
10:30 a.m. – 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle
2:45 p.m. – 1-meter dive prelims (consolation finals, 9-16th place, directly follows)
Finals
6:30 p.m. – Consultation and championship heat, awards for 1-meter diving, 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle and 200 freestyle relay
Friday, Feb. 23
Prelims
10:30 a.m. – 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke
2:45 p.m. – 3-meter dive
Finals
6:30 p.m. – Consultation and championship heat, awards for 3-meter diving, 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 400 medley relay
Saturday, Feb. 24
Prelims
10:30 a.m. – 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke and 200 butterfly
Finals
4:50 p.m. – 1650 free time finals
6:15 p.m. – Senior recognition
6:30 p.m. – Consultation and championship heat, awards for 1650 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 3-meter diving and 400 freestyle relay
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