Photo Courtesy: Matthew DeMaria\/Tennessee Athletics<\/p>\n
BOWLING GREEN – Bowling Green State swimming took down Ball State, 196.5-103.5, in the first dual meet of the season.<\/p>\n
The Bowling Green State University Swimming and Diving team defeated Ball State 196.5-103.5 in their first dual meet of the season Friday night at Cooper Pool.<\/p>\n
The Falcons placed first in the 200 medley relay, 1000 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 50 fre\u200bestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 100 butterfly and 400 individual medley.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were very happy with what we saw today,\u201d Head Coach Petra Martin said. \u201cThere was some good, aggressive racing from the ladies. The divers are getting better every week, so that\u2019s great to see also.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the last two meets, BGSU has won 21 out of 24 of its races.<\/p>\n
Estela Davis-Ortiz won three of her four events, recording first place finishes in the 200 medley relay, 100 backstroke and 400 IM. Coming off a MAC Swimmer of the Week performance, Victoria Griffin won two races. Also winning two events were Kristin Filby, Kayla Effinger and Jordan Bullock.<\/p>\n
The Falcons opened the meet with a first and second place finish in the 200 medley relay. The teams were separated by less than a second in time. In the longest event of the night, Natalie Criswell, Tara Capouch and Alex Poitinger went 1-2-3 in the 1000 freestyle. Griffin won the 200 freestyle and 50 freestyle. BGSU swept its second event of the night, as Davis-Ortiz placed first, Maya Skorupski placed second and Hannah Newman finished third in the 100 backstroke. Filby and Daniella Carrillo took first and second place, respectively in the 100 breaststroke. The success continued for the Falcons as Jordan Bullock won the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:06.49. Going into 1-meter diving, BGSU was up 104-27 on the Cardinals.<\/p>\n
Ball State swept the diving portion of the meet (1- and 3-meter), but Dive Coach Alex Gauvin was pleased with how his divers performed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey came in and did exactly what I wanted them to do, which was show that we have been working on our basics and mechanics and that a couple months down the line we will be someone to look out for,\u201d Gauvin said. \u201cThey learned a lot by watching the other team dive and they know now what is expected of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Effinger recorded a first place tie in the 100 freestyle to open up the second half of the meet. The Orange and Brown then swept Ball State in the 200 backstroke and 200 breaststroke. Bullock and Griffin placed first and third in the 100 butterfly, giving BGSU a 172.5-72.5 lead through 13 events. Davis-Ortiz and Bullock placed 1-2 in the 400 IM for the Falcons.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we were able to mix things up a little bit,\u201d Martin said. \u201cWe put people in a couple different events and I think it\u2019s something we need to do at this point in the season to get an idea of what our different options are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bowling Green competes next at Oakland Nov. 8 against the Golden Grizzlies and Eastern Michigan. The team returns to Cooper Pool on January 16 at 6:00 p.m. to take on Michigan State and Marshall.<\/p>\n
The Ball State women\u2019s swimming and diving team earned four event wins against Bowling Green Friday night at Cooper Pool. Junior diver Madie Zirzow earned two individual event wins in both the one and three meter dives, posting scores of 268.05 and 260.10, respectively. Ball State ultimately fell to Bowling Green 196.5-103.5.<\/p>\n
The Cardinals clenched the 400 freestyle relay by the combination of seniors Jordan VanWinkle, Elaine Pitsas, Carlena Magley and sophomore Jessica Extine for a finished 3:33.47. VanWinkle rounded out the first place Ball State finishes with a 5:05.97 time in the 500 freestyle, with her next closest competitor five seconds behind, in addition to her second place finish in the 200 freestyle at 1:54.22.<\/p>\n
“This was a decent meet for us. Bowling Green raced well, which exposed things we need to get back to working on,” Ball State women’s swimming and diving head coach Kristy Castillo said. “We had some consistency from last week’s meet which was good to to see.”<\/p>\n
Magley tied for first in the 100 freestyle at 52.98 with Bowling Green\u2019s Kayla Effinger, while also posting a third place finish on the day in the 50 freestyle with a 24.46, in addition to her relay success.<\/p>\n
Sophomore Katie Horn was the top finisher for the Cardinals in both the 100 fly at 58.52 and in the 200 fly with a solid 2:08.84, earning second in both events.<\/p>\n
“Our divers performed well. It was nice to see them on top and improve from last week,” Coach Castillo went on.<\/p>\n
In 1-meter diving, Zirzow was followed by sophomore Brittany Penn and freshman Taylor Fiew with scores of 240.90 and 222.75, respectively. Penn cinched the second place mark in the 3-meter event with a 242.03, while Fiew followed with a 220.65.<\/p>\n
The Ball State women\u2019s swimming and diving team will open its home action Saturday, Nov. 1 in Muncie, Ind. against Mid-American Conference foe Akron at 1 p.m. in the Lewellen Aquatic Center.<\/p>\n