Gym Cards Coming Together, Take On Pittsburgh Sunday

BALL STATE GYMNASTICS

Ball State at Pittsburgh
Sunday, Jan. 19 - 2 p.m. ET
Fitzgerald Field House - Pittsburgh, Pa.

MEET COVERAGE

Live Video Live Scoring
Social Media: @BallStateGym | @Pitt_Gym

When young gymnasts are coming up through club competitions and Junior Olympics, it's very much an individual sport. There are finite opportunities and chances to win. Rarely, if ever, will a young gymnast need to need to work within a team concept or even worry about others much at all.

The culture within Ball State gymnastics takes that competitiveness and plugs it into a cohesive unit. Heading into their second meet of the season this weekend, the Cardinals are starting to find out the sum of all the team's individual parts.

"We talk about everybody coming from a different background and how everybody has different strengths they bring to the group," head coach Joanna Saleem said. "When you come together, if you have something you're not as confident about, you can find a teammate who has that strength. You figure out how to work together and everyone can learn how to get to where they want to be. You bring your strengths each day and help those around you."

In a way, Ball State is taking a 360-degree life approach to competing in gymnastics and banking on the results taking care of themselves.

"I think our team is embracing that in a really strong way," head coach Joanna Saleem said. "We're trying to get a little bit better. A little more confident."

"Our sport is so mental, it's 'How do we take the consistency of what we do in practice out to the competition floor?' It has to come from within. You learn and you grow and you develop. It's about empowering our gymnasts to have ownership of the team and be competitive...while working hard and having fun what you're doing."

Ball State heads to Pittsburgh after opening at Iowa on Jan. 11. The Cardinals, led by Claudia Goyco on floor (9.825), Stefanie Schweikert on vault (9.800) and Arden Hudson on beam (9.800), defeated Air Force on the scoreboard and overall considered the debut a solid one to start the year. Like this weekend at Pittsburgh and last week at Iowa, each meet is a stepping stone to a bigger vision.

"When you're out there performing solid gymnastics, the scores and the wins will take care of themselves," Saleem said. "You have to stay current and in your mindset. And that takes practice and support from your group. We all have a common goal - but we have to break it down and stay within our process."

Following this weekend's meet at Pittsburgh, the Cardinals host a four-team meet Sunday, Jan. 26 at 1 p.m.