BY ALEC RUNYAN / Ball State Sports Link
Every week Ball State Sports Link will introduce you to five student-athletes you need to know after their weekend performances in Ball State Athletics.
This week we travel from the pool, to the golf course and in between with our selections.
Six athletes are highlighted in this “Cardinals In The Crowd” as BSU competed in nine different sports last week.
Alex Bader – Women’s Swimming & Diving
Junior swimmer Alex Bader and the BSU swim team had a busy weekend, competing in meets both Friday and Saturday.
Despite losing to a very talented Miami team on the road, Bader won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.91.
In less than 24 hours later, Bader and the Cardinals were back in action at home against Xavier.
Bader would yet again take first place in the 100 breaststroke, this time breaking the pool record and recording the second fastest time in BSU history with a 1:01.92.
Bader was also a member of both the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay finishing in first place on Saturday as well.
Ball State (5-1) takes a month long break from competition until they travel to Akron Sunday, March 14 at 3 p.m.
Tyler Green – Men’s Golf
In Ball State’s first event of the season, Tyler Green went 3-0 in match play helping the Cardinals finish in second place out of six teams.
Green, who was also named the MAC Golfer of the Week, opens the season playing in the No. 2 spot for BSU.
The redshirt senior beat opponents from DePaul (4&3), Drake (3&2) and Evansville (2&1) during the two-day event.
Green picked up right where he left off at the end of the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season. He tied for third in what proved to be the final event of that season in a strong field at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate.
The Cardinals have a full month off until they head to Dallas for the Trinity Forest Invitational starting Sunday, March 6.
Emma Peeler – Women’s Tennis
No. 1 singles player Emma Peeler pulled away with a third set tiebreaker 7-6 (7-5) to secure the Cardinals victory over Middle Tennessee this past Saturday.
Going back and forth all match, Peeler’s match finished second to last giving Ball State the fourth and final point they needed.
A sophomore from Cleveland, Peeler started her career at Ball State with a 7-5 record last spring while playing most of her matches at No. 2 singles.
BSU (2-2) returns to action this Saturday, Feb. 20 against Youngstown State.
Caitlin Locante – Women’s Swimming & Diving
Caitlin Locante, senior diver, received first place in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events against Miami last Friday.
Locante recorded a personal best with a score of 296.25 on the 1-meter board. That score also qualifies her for the NCAA Zone Diving “A” Cut for the upcoming Zone meet March 7-9.
Locante has already qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving “B” cut with a score of 323.625 back in January in a meet against Indianapolis.
The Cardinals (5-1) next team meet will take place Sunday, March 14 at Akron.
Elka Machan – Track & Field
Freshman Elka Machan ran her first 5000m race of the season last week finishing with a time of 17:05.81.
Machan, who is now the 5K MAC leader by three seconds, finished in 12th place out of 73 competitors.
The Cardinals now prepare for the MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships starting Friday, Feb. 26.
Oshlynn Brown – Women’s Basketball
Oshlynn Brown continues to dominate as the Ball State women’s basketball team played three games against MAC opponents last week.
On her way to becoming just the second player in BSU women’s basketball history to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her career, she posted two double-doubles in three games.
Feb. 8 against Northern Illinois, Brown scored 28 points and grabbed 15 rebounds despite losing 78-74.
In the Cardinals victory over Miami, Brown again scored 28 points while pulling in 10 rebounds.
BSU (10-8, 8-6 MAC) heads to Buffalo Wednesday, Feb. 17 tipping off at 5 p.m.
