Gymnastics Travels To Mizzou, Hosts WMU This Weekend

Friday, March 10

Columbia, Mo.

7 p.m.

Ball State University

Missouri

Gymnastics Travels To Mizzou, Hosts WMU This Weekend

March 09, 2023 | Gymnastics

Gymnastics Record Book Gymnastics Stats

MUNCIE, Ind. - - It will be a busy weekend for the Ball State gymnastics program, which looks to cap the regular season on a strong note, starting with a Friday quad meet at Missouri and ending Sunday at Worthen Arena for Senior Day versus Western Michigan.

The Cardinals enter Friday's quad with a 14-4 (5-0 Mid-American Conference) record, including 12 straight head-to-head victories. Ball State is currently ranked 34th nationally with a NQS of 196.190.

BSU will face its toughest test since the season-opener at Florida, however, as Mizzou enters the week ranked 17th nationally with an NQS of 196.985 according to RoadToNationals.com. In addition, North Carolina is 36th with an NQS of 196.105, while Southeast Missouri is 57th at 194.500.

Moving to Sunday, it will be the Mid-American Conference's top two teams battling it out in Worthen Arena, as the Broncos are currently 28th nationally with an NQS of 196.305.

Fans unable to attend this week's meets can also follow the action from home with:
   Mizzou Quad Live Results: https://bit.ly/3T0lzRh
   Mizzou Quad Live Video (SEC Network+): https://es.pn/3Yzt8iX
   Ball State vs. Western Michigan Live Results: https://ballstatesports.com/GymResults
   Ball State vs. Western Michigan Live Video (ESPN3): https://es.pn/3J72JTZ

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

BREAKING RECORDS AT THE TENNESSEE COLLEGIATE CLASSIC:
- The Ball State gymnastics team broke three team records at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 20) … 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:
- Senior Taylor Waldo and sophomore Grace Sumner would add two more scores of 9.925 on beam at the Ball State Quad (Jan. 29), while Waldo and senior Lauren Volpe hit the mark in the come-from-behind victory over Northern Illinois (Feb. 12) to give Ball State six record scores on the event so far this season
- Junior Victoria Henry broke a 26-year-old program record with her all-around performance against Central Michigan last Sunday (Feb. 27) … She started the day with a 9.875 on vault, followed by a 9.775 on bars, and a career best 9.850 on beam … Henry then closed the meet on floor, earning the event win with a 9.900 … Added together, she scored a 39.400 to top the previous all-around record of 39.375 set at the 1997 MAC Championships.
- The Cardinals tied the program vault record last time out, with its second 49.250 of the season in a thrilling 196.375 to 196.000 victory at Bowling Green (March 3) … Victoria Henry led the way by tying her career-best score on the apparatus with a 9.925 … Ball State also counted 9.875s by Suki Pfister and Hannah Ruthberg, as well as a 9.800 from Megan Teter and a 9.775 from Zoe Middleton.
- In the program's 10 years under current head coach Joanna Saleem, Ball State has tallied the 22 best team scores in program history … In fact, of Ball State's 26 scores of 195.450-or-higher, 24 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 31 entries on the vault record book are held by Saleem's teams, as are 17 of 22 scores on beam, 17 of 23 scores on floor, and 16 of 23 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 26th nationally with an NQS vault score of 49.105.
- Ball State's program-record vault score of 49.250 set at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 20), and tied last Friday at Bowling Green (March 3), is the second-best in the MAC so far this season and is tied as the 30th-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 and tied for 18th nationally with a vault NQS score of 9.900.
- Pfister started with a third-place finish in the quad meet at Florida (Jan. 6) with a 9.875 … She followed with back-to-back 9.900s in the quad meet at Rutgers (Jan. 14) and at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 20).
- She would add a score of 9.925 at the Ball State Quad (Jan. 29) and follow with another score of 9.900 versus Kent State (Feb. 19).
- Pfister topped them all against Central Michigan (Feb. 27) tying her career-high with a 9.950 to earn the event win … The effort included a 10.00 from the head judge in the event … Pfister's score is tied as the third-best individual score in program history and the highest vault score in the MAC this season.
- No other student-athlete in the league has an NQS higher then 9.860, with teammates Victoria Henry (9.855) and Hannah Ruthberg (9.825) ranking third and sixth in the MAC, respectively.

PFISTER ALSO SHINING ON FLOOR:
- Suki Pfister has also turned in seven brilliant performances (9.800-or-better) on floor this season, including tying the program record with a score of 9.950 at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 20).
- Pfister's score of 9.950 ties as the second-best in the league on floor so far this season.

MORE ON HENRY:
- Victoria Henry has competed in the all-around in all nine meets so far this season, the first nine all-around performances of her collegiate career … Her best outing came versus Central Michigan (Feb. 27) when she set the program standard with a score of 39.400.
- She tallied the third-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 fifth-best score in program history in the Jan. 22 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.
- Overall, Henry has three of the top six all-around scores in program history.

RUTHBERG SOLID ALL-AROUND AS WELL:
- Hannah Ruthberg continued her all-around assault on the record book at the Ball State Quad (Jan. 29), tying the eighth-best score in program history at 39.275 … She would go on to tie the score last Friday at Bowling Green (March 3).
- The effort at the Ball State Quad (Jan. 29) was led by a career-best score of 9.875 on beam, along with scores of 9.825 on bars, 9.800 on floor and 9.775 on vault.
- The effort at Bowling Green (March 3) was paced by a career-best 9.875 on vault, along with a 9.850 on beam, a 9.825 on floor, and a 9.725 on beam
- Overall, Ruthberg has seven of the top 17 all-around scores in program history, with her career-best mark of 39.325 at West Virginia (March 6, 2022) tying as the fifth best.

SCORING HIGH:
- Overall, the Cardinals have counted 111 scores of 9.800-or-higher this season … 38 of those performance have come on floor, including a 9.950 from Suki Pfister, 9.925s from Victoria Henry and Zoe Middleton, and a pair of 9.900s by Megan Teter.
- Ball State has added 29 scores of 9.800-or-better on vault, paced by a 9.950, a 9.925, and a trifecta of 9.900s by Suki Pfister … Victoria Henry also has a 9.925 on vault this season.
- The Cardinals also boast 23 scores of 9.800-or-better on beam and 21 on bars so far this season … Megan Teter's program record score of 9.950 leads the team on bars, while Taylor Waldo, Grace Evans, Grace Sumner, and Lauren Volpe have all tied the program record on beam at 9.925 … In fact, Waldo has hit the mark three times this season.

FRESHMAN IMPACT:
- Freshman Zoe Middleton found an immediate home in the Ball State lineup, competing in three events in each of the first nine meets of the season … Her best meet to date came versus Northern Illinois (Feb. 12) when she scored a 9.925 on floor, a 9.800 on vault, and a 9.800 on bars … She also scored a 9.800 on vault at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 20) and a career-best 9.825 on bars at Bowling Green (March 3).
- Of Zoe Middleton's 27 routines this season, 26 of her scores have counted towards Ball State's team total.
- Zoe Middleton also scored a 9.800 in an exhibition on beam versus Northern Illinois (Nov. 12) … If that score would have been in competition, she would have had an all-around score of 39.325 which would have tied as the fifth-best mark in program history.

MORE FROM THE NEWBIES:
- Florida native Karah Vargo made her collegiate debut in her home state, scoring a 9.650 on vault at the Florida Quad Meet (Jan. 6).
- Leah White made her first appearance in the competitive lineup on vault at the Rutgers January Quad (Jan. 14) and has competed on the apparatus ever since with a career-best 9.775 coming at Eastern Michigan (Jan. 22) and versus Northern Illinois (Feb. 12).

BEAM VOLPE UP:
- Ball State's lone fifth-year senior, Lauren Volpe registered a career-best beam score of 9.925 in the win over Northern Illinois (Feb. 12), helping the Cardinals finish the meet with the second-best team score in program history at 49.300.
- In fact, Volpe is one of three current Ball State gymnasts to have a countable score in all five of the top team beam marks in program history, along with Hannah Ruthberg and Grace Sumner.

MORE ON BALL STATE'S SENIOR:
- Grace Evans enters her senior weekend tied atop the beam record book with her score of 9.925 set at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 20) … She has six scores of 9.800-or-better this season, including a season-best 9.850 on bars which was also set at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic.
- Megan Teter set the bars record at 9.950 and earned a career-best vault score of 9.825 at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 20) … She has four scores of 9.900-or-better this season, including two 9.900s on floor and a 9.900 on bars …
- Taylor Waldo has been strong on beam all season, tying the program record three times at 9.925, most recently versus Northern Illinois (Feb. 12) … She also set a season-best on floor at NIU with a 9.850, and owns eight scores of 9.800-or-better this season.