Ball State University
Illinois State
Gymnasts Tally Win at Illinois State
March 03, 2015 | Gymnastics
Ball State's gymnastics team defeated Illinois State 194.475 to 193.975 for its second victory in four days to improve to 3-7 on the season.
The Cardinals won the vault, beam and floor en route to the win over the Redbirds.
"We had a really solid performance on all four events," Ball State head coach Joanna Saleem said. "The meet was close throughout the night and this team was very competitive. I am really happy with the way they are pulling together and competing. It took a team effort to win tonight, and everyone is working hard to do their part. It is important as we head into March that we continue to work on all the details of our performance, we have to continue to build each week as we get closer to the Mid-American Conference Championships. We are hitting a nice rhythm and it is great to get another win."
Kayla Beckler and Denasiha Christian tied for first on the vault with a pair of 9.800 scores, while Christian also tied for first on the floor with a 9.850 mark and was second on the beam with a 9.800.
Erin Patchey placed third on the floor with a 9.800, while Sarah Ebeyer was fourth with a 9.775 and Beckler was fifth with a 9.750.
In addition to taking the top two spots on the vault, Ball State's Patchey tied for third with a 9.750, while Jala Washington and Ebeyer tied for fifth with a pair of 9.725 scores.
Brooklyn Schumacher was the Cardinals' top finisher on the bars with a 9.825 to finish second.
Just behind Christian on the beam was Jessica Leko with a third-place score of 9.775, while Baylee Bell was fourth with a 9.750.
"We had a lot of really good gymnastics tonight, again a great team effort," Saleem said. "Denasiha had a great night and Brooklyn had a really nice bar routine tonight."
After setting a new school record on the vault with a 49.100 team mark on Friday, Ball State's 48.800 score Monday was the ninth best in school history. The beam score of 48.650 marks the 16th best team score in Ball State history.
Ball State takes its 2-3 Mid-American Conference mark back into action Sunday at Kent State at 2 p.m.
Players Mentioned
