Gymnastics Off To Strong Start With Best Opening Score Since 2018

Friday, January 7

Columbia, MO

8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT

Ball State University

193.775

196.600

Missouri

Photo by: Maeve Bradfield/Ball State Athletics

Gymnastics Off To Strong Start With Best Opening Score Since 2018

January 07, 2022 | Gymnastics

Final Results

COLUMBIA, MO. - - To be considered one of the best, you must battle the best. The Ball State gymnastics team did just that Friday night, opening the season with a strong showing in a tri-meet at No. 16 Missouri's Hearnes Center.

Behind an all-around solid team effort, the Cardinals tallied its best season-opening score since 2018 with a mark of 193.775. While the score finished behind the host and nationally-ranked Tigers (196.600), it was good enough for a win over Illinois State (191.600) which received votes in the Preseason WCGA National Poll.

"There were some really great moments that were exciting and fun to watch tonight," head coach Joanna Saleem said. "We also had some learning moments. To get out there and get started is exciting, and what we all wanted to do. While we did well, we had some inconsistencies that we can learn from, grow, and do better starting next week."

Ball State opened the meet on bars, tallying a team score of 48.450. Leading the way was junior Megan Teter with a mark of 9.800. It was her ninth career effort of 9.800-or-better in the event, and her best score to start the season on bars. It was also a strong enough to earn third in the meet.

Freshman Grace Sumner also made an impact in her first collegiate event, finishing second on the squad with a 9.725 on bars.

Next up for Ball State was beam, which saw five of the six Cardinals score at least a 9.600 for a team score of 48.600. This time, it was senior Lauren Volpe who would lead the way by tying her career-best mark with a 9.850. It was the highest event score for a Ball State gymnast on the night and placed fifth overall in the event.

"Lauren's beam routine was awesome," Saleem said. "It was so fun to watch her get up there and be rock solid and smooth."

Sumner also shined in her second and final event of the day, finishing second for the Cardinals on beam at 9.775.

"Grace rocked both of her events," Saleem said. "For her to come out and be competitive right out of the gate was really fun to watch. I also loved the engagement from the entire team. How they stayed together and continued to fight through the whole meet definitely says something positive about this group."

Ball State's best overall event was floor, with four student-athletes hitting a routine of 9.700-or-better for an event score of 48.650. This time, it was sophomore Hannah Ruthberg who would lead the way with a score of 9.775. It was the best of four event scores for Ruthberg who would place second among all-around competitors with a 38.150.

Adding floor routines of 9.750 for BSU were senior Sandra Elsadek and Teter. It was also the highest of four event scores for Elsadek who would take third in the all-around at 37.900.

The Cardinals closed out the competition on vault, earning a mark of 48.075. Senior Stefanie Schweikert paced the team with a score of 9.800 for her 19th career vault of 9.800-or-better.

BSU's 2021 NCAA Regional vault qualifier, sophomore Victoria Henry, was not far behind with a mark of 9.750.

The Ball State gymnastics team will look to build on tonight's performance next Sunday (Jan. 16) when it travels to Western Michigan for a 1 p.m. competition.

"While it was solid, we are not settling for this performance tonight," Saleem concluded. "This was the start, and our team recognized the areas we need to grow and learn from. We are better than what we showed today, and I think our student-athletes are going to take this experience and use it to build on moving forward."