Bader earns national honor

Two Cardinal swimmers earned All-America honors.

A former Patriot was one of them.

Alex Bader, a 2018 Jay County High School graduate, was one of two Ball State University women’s swimming and diving athletes to be named honorable mention Scholar All-Americans by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America.

Bader, a BSU junior, becomes the first Cardinal swimmer to earn the honor since the 2013-14 season.

The nursing major, who holds a 3.944 grade point average, earned an NCAA “B” cut time of 1 minute, 1.69 seconds, in the preliminaries of the 100-yard breaststroke in the 2021 Mid-American Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. It was the second-best individual time in program history, and Bader went on to finish third in the finals.

To be considered for the award, an athlete must maintain a 3.50 GPA and achieve either an “B” standard or qualify for the NCAA Regional or Zone Diving Championship.

Ball State senior diver Caitlin Locante earned the honor for the second consecutive season.