Gymnastics Set To Host Ball State Quad Sunday

MUNCIE, Ind. - - It has been a record-breaking start for the Ball State gymnastics program so far this season, but one thing has been missing; a home meet.

That will change Sunday, however, when the Cardinals host Fisk, Pittsburgh, and Southeast Missouri for the Ball State Quad. Action on what has been dubbed Squishmallow Day will begin at 1 p.m. in Worthen Arena, with gates opening at noon.

Fans unable to attend can also follow the action from home with live results found here: https://bsu_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/Stats/Gymnastics/gymlive.htm

For those coming to the meet, admission is FREE, and the Cardinals will be throwing out Squishmallows for each routine which scores 9.750-or-higher. In addition, fans can enter to win a GIANT SQUISHMALLOW which will be awarded to one lucky fan after the meet.

Looking to know more about the squad, here are some highlights of the season to date:

BREAKING RECORDS:
- The Ball State gymnastics team broke three team records last Friday at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic … The meet started with the Cardinals counting five scores of 9.800-or-higher on the way to a record vault team score of 49.250 … Two events later, the Cardinals counted five more scores of 9.800-or-higher in a record beam team score of 49.350 … Combined with scores of 49.125 on bars and 48.825 on floor, Ball State finished the meet with a program record team score of 196.550.
- Overall, Ball State tallied a program record seven individual scores of 9.900-or-higher in the meet … The previous best was three scores of 9.900-or-higher in the same meet set March 5, 2017 versus Western Michigan and tied Feb. 6, 2021 in a quad at Eastern Michigan and March 3, 2021 in a home quad.
- Individually, senor Megan Teter set the program record on bars at 9.950; junior Suki Pfister tied the program record on floor at 9.950; seniors Taylor Waldo and Grace Evans tied the program record on beam at 9.925.

MORE RECORD NEWS:
- In the program's 10 years under current head coach Joanna Saleem, Ball State has tallied the 17 best team scores in program history … In fact, of the 22 scores of 195.450-or-higher in the record book, 20 have been set by Saleem's squads.
- In addition, Saleem's squads own the event records on vault (49.250), beam (49.350), and floor (49.500), along with the second-best score in program history on bars (49.250).
- All 26 entries on the vault record book are held by Saleem's teams, as are 19 of 25 scores on beam, 14 of 20 scores on floor, and 13 of 20 scores on bars.

VAULTING OFF STRONG:
- Ball State's best event so far this season has been vault, with the Cardinals ranking first in the MAC and 21st nationally with an average vault score of 49.044.
- Ball State's program-record vault score of 49.250 is also the best in the MAC so far this season and is tied as the 15th-best team high score in the nation.

PFISTER LEADING THE WAY:
- Suki Pfister has picked up right where she left off last season, ranking first in the MAC with a 9.869 average score on vault … She started with a third-place finish in the quad meet at Florida (Jan. 6) with a 9.875 … She followed it up with the league's first 9.900 of the season on vault in the quad meet at Rutgers (Jan. 14).
- No other student-athlete in the league is averaging higher then 9.825, with teammates Victoria Henry and Hannah Ruthberg tying for second at the mark.

PFISTER ALSO SHINING ON FLOOR:
- Suki Pfister has also turned in four brilliant performances on floor, tying for second in the MAC with an average of 9.869 … In fact, her program record tying score of 9.950 set at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 20) is the best in the league so far this season.
- Victoria Henry is also tied for second in the MAC with an average floor score of 9.869, including one of just two scores of 9.925 among league gymnasts.

MORE ON HENRY:
- Victoria Henry has competed in the all-around in all four meets so far this season, the first four all-around performances of her collegiate career … She tallied the second-highest all-around score in program history at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 20), counting a 9.925 on floor, a 9.875 on vault, and 9.775s on bars and beam for a score of 39.350.
- She followed with the fourth-best score in program history in last Sunday's dual win over Eastern Michigan, earning a 39.325 … The effort included 9.875s on bars and floor, a 9.825 on vault, and a 9.750 on beam.
- She also logged what is now tied as the 14th-best all-around score in program history with a 39.175 at the Rutgers January Quad (Jan. 14).

SCORING HIGH:
- Overall, the Cardinals counted 43 scores of 9.800-or-higher this season … 15 of those performance have come on floor, including a 9.950 from Suki Pfister, a 9.925 from Victoria Henry, and a 9.900 by Megan Teter.
- Ball State has added 13 scores of 9.800-or-better on vault, paced by a pair of 9.900s by Suki Pfister.
- The Cardinals also boast eight scores of 9.800-or-better on beam and seven on bars so far this season … Megan Teter's program record score of 9.950 leads the team on bars, while Taylor Waldo and Grace Evans program record tying score of 9.925 leads the way on beam.

FRESHMAN IMPACT:
- Freshman Zoe Middleton found an immediate home in the Ball State lineup, competing in three events in each of the first four meets of the season … Her best scores to date are a 9.800 on floor at the Rutgers January Quad (Jan. 14) and a 9.800 on vault at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 20) … In fact, 11 of her 12 scores have counted towards Ball State's team total this season.
- Florida native Karah Vargo made her collegiate debut in her home state, scoring a 9.650 on vault.
- Leah White made her first appearance in the competitive lineup on vault at the Rutgers January Quad and has competed on the apparatus ever since.

WHERE THEY STAND ENTERING THE WEEK:
- Ball State enters the weekend ranked 32nd nationally with an average score of 195.438 according to the Road To Nationals rankings … BSU's best event is vault, with the team ranking 21st nationally with an average score of 49.044.
- In its first year of competition, Fisk enters the Ball State Quad ranked 68th nationally with an average score of 188.269 … The Bulldog's best event is beam, with the team ranking 65th nationally with a 47.394 average.
- Pittsburgh enters Sunday's meet ranked 39th nationally with an average score of 194.917 … The Panthers' best event is vault, in which they rank 25th nationally with a 48.983 average.
- Southeast Missouri enters the weekend ranked 54th nationally with an average score of 193.492 … The RedHawks' best event is beam, in which they rank 51st nationally with a 48.267 average.

DID YOU KNOW:
- Fisk volunteer coach Russell Warfield was a collegiate gymnast for Ball State … He earned three letters in gymnastics for the Cardinals from 1979-80 to 1981-82 … During the 1981-82 season, Warfield averaged 9.38 on vault, the best average of any student-athlete on any event that season … He also led the team on floor (8.97 average) and was second on the squad on high bar (8.50).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Grace Evans

Victoria Henry

Zoe Middleton

Suki Pfister

Hannah Ruthberg

Megan Teter

Karah Vargo

Taylor Waldo

Leah White