Coers Invitational, Day Two

MUNCIE, Indiana. November 22. THE Ball State women's swimming & diving team cruised to the Doug Coers Invitational title, while the men's championship came down to the last event, with Grand Valley State escaping with the victory despite a valiant comeback attempt from the Cardinals.

Overall, the women captured 15 of 20 possible total events, on the way to 989 total points. Grand Valley State placed second on the women's side with 594 points, followed by Findlay at 190.

On the men's side, Grand Valley State used a first place finish in the 400 freestyle relay to escape the Lewellen Aquatic Center with the invitational win, scoring 765.5 total points. Ball State placed second with 756.6 points, followed by Findlay at 222. Overall, the men's team scored victories in five of the 20 events.

The final session of the 2008 Doug Coers Invitational opened with Ball State's Mary Ehresman taking home first place in the 1650 freestyle with a clocking of 17:48.46. The women continued with Sara Hostetler pacing the field in the 200 backstroke at 2:12.17, while Alanna Bader (2:12.33) and Shelli Kopetsky (2:13.68) rounded out a 1-2-3 BSU finish.

The women won their third-straight event of the afternoon when Katie Bylsma swam the 100 freestyle in 53.54. BSU's winning streak came to an end in the next event, however, as Grand Valley State's Toni Musto (2:23.53) finished .20 seconds ahead of BSU's Emily Haifley (2:23.73) in the 200 breaststroke.

Megan Ploetz gave BSU's its fourth first-place finish of the afternoon session, turning in a time of 2:08.41 to beat out teammate Sara Hostetler who clocked in at 2:10.21. Maria Gramelspacher placed third in the event with a time of 2:11.29.

The women concluded the two-day meet with their 15th of 20 event victories on the weekend, colleting the title in the 400 freestyle relay, with Gramelspacher, Andrea Campeau, Bylsma and Nicole Saulters posting a time of 3:37.23.

The men started the final session with an exciting 200 backstroke, as Tyler Dixon topped Grand Valley State's Jordan Schrotenboer by .03 seconds, 1:57.23 to 1:57.26.

Josh Young was the men's fastest competitor in the 100 freestyle, placing third with a time of 48.13. Robby Muller was BSU's top swimmer in the 200 breaststroke with a second-place clocking of 2:15.26, while Jordan Rantz placed third with a time of 2:15.95.

Freshman Chris Krupa nearly shocked the field in the men's 200 butterfly, shaving almost seven seconds off his seed time to place second overall with a clocking of 1:57.44. With the second-place showing, the Cardinals entered the men's final relay trailing Grand Valley State by just three points, meaning the winner of the final relay would win the meet.

In the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, the Cardinals team of Young, Ben Battjes, Krupa, and Austin Laska finished with a time of 3:10.45, falling less than a second short of GVSU's relay clocking of 3:09.71 which gave the Lakers the meet victory.

Women's Saturday Afternoon Ball State Results

1650 Freestyle
1. Mary Ehresman – 17:48.46
3. Elizabeth Spilman – 17:58.24
5. Chelsea Giuffre – 18:40.96

200 Backstroke
1. Sara Hostetler – 2:12.17
2. Alanna Bader – 2:12.33
3. Shelli Kopetsky – 2:13.68
6. Katie Balko – 2:16.01
8. Kaitlin Jasmon – 2:16.92
10. Anna Zuchowski – 2:20.59

100 Freestyle
1. Katie Bylsma – 53.54
3. Kelly Johnson – 55.16
4. Joan Cullen – 55.34
5. Nicole Saulters – 55.58
7. Sarah Kehe – 55.75
12. Andrea Campeau – 56.54

200 Breaststroke
2. Emily Haifley – 2:23.73
3. Lauren Harger – 2:27.15
4. Emily Hurst – 2:27.74
6. Catherine Ingram – 2:29.14
8. Rebekah Gingerich – 2:36.18
– – Elizabeth Spilman – 2:30.65

200 Butterfly
1. Megan Ploetz – 2:08.41
2. Sara Hostetler – 2:10.21
3. Maria Gramelspacher – 2:11.29
7. Emily Collins – 2:16.74
8. Erika Paul – 2:17.02
9. Chelsea Giuffre – 2:17.18

400 Freestyle Relay
1. Maria Gramelspacher, Andrea Campeau, Katie Bylsma, Nicole Saulters – 3:37.23
– – Kelly Johnson, Lauren Harger, Sarah Kehe, Joan Cullen – 3:40.77
– – Emily Haifley, Meghan Patterson, Mary Ehresman, Elizabeth Spilman – 3:44.62
– – Erika Paul, Sara Hostetler, Emily Collins, Megan Ploetz – 3:45.56
– – Shelli Kopetsky, Alanna Bader, Emily Hurst, Catherine Ingram – 3:50.56

Men's Saturday Afternoon Ball State Results

200 Backstroke
1. Tyler Dixon – 1:57.23
3. Adam Thieling – 2:01.98
6. Ryan Misener – 2:03.46
– – Andrew Hostetler – 2:00.29

100 Freestyle
3. Josh Young – 48.13
4. Austin Laska – 48.28
5. Ben Battjes – 49.00
6. Chris Steindorff – 49.40
7. Casey Schroeder – 49.48
10. Tony DeBrota – 49.98
– – Dane Mishler – 50.59
– – Eric Hercamp – 50.95

200 Breaststroke
2. Robby Muller – 2:15.26
3. Jordan Rantz – 2:15.95
5. Todd Wenger – 2:18.24
6. Gavin McNeeley – 2:19.34
7. Mark Nau – 2:19.96

200 Butterfly
2. Chris Krupa – 1:57.44
4. Ben Karwoski – 1:59.40
8. Andrew Hostetler – 2:02.10
9. Tyler Dixon – 2:02.54
10. Zach Coquillard – 2:03.48

400 Freestyle Relay
2. Josh Young, Ben Battjes, Chris Krupa, Austin Laska – 3:10.45
– – Casey Schroeder, Zach Coquillard, Tony DeBrota, Chris Steindorff – 3:16.77
– – Dane Mishler, Eric Hercamp, Andrew Hostetler, Adam Thieling – 3:20.41

Special thanks to Ball State for contributing this report.

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