Ball State University Athletics
Gymnasts Head to Iowa to Face Two Big Ten Foes
January 15, 2015 | Gymnastics
Ball State's gymnastics team, under the direction of head coach Joanna Saleem, heads to Iowa Sunday to face the Hawkeyes and No. 22 Michigan State.
The Cardinals will compete in Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 2 p.m. (CT)/3 p.m. (ET).
Michigan State is coming off a loss at Mid-American Conference's Bowling Green, while the Hawkeyes suffered a loss in their season opener at LSU.
Ball State opened the 2015 campaign in front of an Irving Gym record crowd against the nation's No. 1 Florida Gators and suffered a 196.925 to 193.700 loss.
The Cardinals were led by the performance of Denasiha Christian, who earned MAC Specialist of the Week honors for her competition vs. Florida. The Ball State junior tied for fourth on the vault with a 9.85 score, which tied her personal best, plus tallied a 9.85 on the floor.
Ball State managed a 48.70 team score on the vault in the season opener, which marked the 12th best total in school history. The Cardinals also posted the 16th best balance beam team score in the record books with a 48.625 mark.
The Cardinals managed a 189.975 to 188.875 victory over Iowa in last year's meeting in Muncie, Ind., while the Spartans and Ball State did not meet a year ago.
