Gymnastics Set For Friday's Tennessee Collegiate Classic

Ball State Gymnastics at Tennessee Collegiate Classic
Meet 3 - at Tennessee Collegiate Classic w/Kent State, Southeast Missouri and Wisconsin-Whitewater	Friday, Jan. 19 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT No Live Results or Live Video Available
Tickets Info	N/A
Notes	Ball State \| Kent State \| Southeast Missouri \| Wisconsin-Whitewater
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics team will be action twice in a four-day span, starting Friday evening at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic ... The event will be held at the Farm Bureau Expo Center in Lebanon, Tennessee, with the Cardinals competing in the second of two collegiate sessions ... Ball State will face league rival Kent State, Southeast Missouri and Wisconsin-Whitewater at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT ... The first session will feature Fisk, Lindenwood and Northern Illinois.

» HOME OPENER: Following the Tennessee Collegiate Classic, Ball State opens the home portion of its 2024 campaign Monday (Jan. 22) with a 7 p.m. Mid-American Conference showdown versus Bowling Green ... It will be Squishmallows Night in Worthen Arena, and the Cardinals encourage fans to bring their favorite fluff-filled friends ... BSU's student-athletes will also being throwing out Squishmallows to fans throughout the night, including for each routine hitting 9.750-or-higher ... There will also be a raffle for a giant Squishmallow which will be drawn at the conclusion of the meet.

» GET YOUR TICKETS NOW: Starting this season, Ball State will be charging admission for home meets with season tickets starting at $32 for adults and $16 for youth (18-and-under) ... Season tickets include all three regular season duals and the 2024 MAC Championships set to be held in Worthen Arena on March 23 ... That's a 20% savings over individual meet tickets which are $10 for adults and $5 for youth (18-and-under) ... Fans can purchase their tickets in advance at https://BallStateSports.com/gymnasticstickets.

» OFF TO A RECORD START: Ball State picked up right where it left off last season, beginning the year with the best opening meet score in program history at 194.925 at the UNC Quad (Jan. 5) ... The previous record was 194.475 set at Kentucky to open the 2018 season ... The Cardinals followed with another solid performance at the Ohio State Tri-meet (Jan. 14), producing the 19th-best team score in program history at 195.650.

» ON THE NATIONAL STAGE: Ball State's average score of 195.288 through the first two weeks of the 2024 season ranks 33rd nationally and leads all Mid-American Conference schools ... The Cardinals finished the 2023 season ranked 34th nationally with an NQS of 196.395, while it was 40th nationally with an average of 194.775 after the first two weeks a year ago.

» NEARLY FLAWLESS: Senior Victoria Henry became just the third gymnast in program history to register a score of 9.975-or-better by winning the vault competition at the Ohio State Tri-meet (Jan. 14) with a mark if 9.975 ... It is the best score for any MAC gymnast so far this season and ties as the second-best vault in the country ... In the BSU record book, Henry's 9.975 trails only the perfect 10.000 vault by Sarah Mikrut at Kent State on Feb. 21, 1997 ... Denasiha Christian landed the Cardinals' other 9.975 on vault at Northern Illinois on Feb. 19, 2016.

» MORE FROM HENRY: Along with her 9.975 vault at the Ohio State Tri-meet (Jan. 14), Victoria Henry has earned a pair of 9.900 routines on floor so far this season ... She also finished the all-around at OSU with a score of 39.320 which ties as the sixth-best individual score in program history and earned her a second career MAC Gymnast of the Week honor ... Over the last two seasons, Henry has registered four of the top 10 all-around scores in program history, including a program record mark of 39.400 set last season at Central Michigan.

» HENRY HITTING THE 9.900 MARK: Including her winning mark of 9.975 on vault and her 9.900 on floor at the Ohio State Tri-meet (Jan. 14), senior Victoria Henry has registered 13 career scores of 9.900-or-better ... The effort includes six floor routines, six vaults and one bars performance.

» SHINING ON FLOOR: Ball State's best event so far this season has been floor, with the Cardinals averaging a 49.100 in the event ... Last time out, the Cardinals tied the 17th-best floor score in program history with a 49.175 at the Ohio State Tri-meet (Jan. 14) ... BSU counted four scores of 9.825-or-higher on the day, highlighted by a 9.925 from sophomore Zoe Middleton who tied for second overall at the meet.

» VAULTING OFF STRONG: Ball State has also had a strong start on vault, ranking first in the MAC and 22nd nationally with an average team score of 49.050 ... BSU opened the season with a 49.150 at the UNC Quad (Jan. 5), which ties as the sixth-best team score in program history.

» PICKING UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF: Suki Pfister scored a 9.925 to win vault competition at the UNC Quad (Jan. 5) ... It was the best score among all MAC gymnasts on any event opening week and earned her a fifth career MAC Specialist of the Week honor ... Of her 34 career vault performances, 11 have gone for scores of 9.900-or-higher.

» FROM THE BARS: Freshman Ashley Szymanski has led the Cardinals on bars in each of the first two meets of the 2024 season, including winning the event at the Ohio State Tri-meet with a collegiate-best mark of 9.900 ... The effort earned her MAC Specialist of the Week honors and currently ties as the best bars score in the MAC so far this season.

» ONE TO WATCH: Sophomore Zoe Middleton, one of two Ball State student-athletes named to the 2024 MAC Gymnasts to Watch list, has provided plenty of highlights for the Cardinals so far this season with all eight of her routines counting in the final team score ... Paced by her 9.925 on floor and career-best all-around mark of 39.075 last Sunday at the Ohio State Tri-meet, the effort includes four total scores of 9.825-or-higher so far this season ... ... During her freshman campaign, 37 of Middleton's 39 routines counted towards Ball State's team total.

» MORE FROM THE ALL AROUND:
- Senior Hannah Ruthberg placed second in the all-around at the UNC Quad (Jan. 5), registering a score of 39.150 ... The effort included 9.800s on both bars and beam and 9.775s on both vault and floor ... Ruthberg added a pair of 9.825s on vault and floor at the Ohio State Tri-meet (Jan. 14), finishing with an all-around score of 38.450.
- Graduate student Megan Teter competed in the all-around for the first time in her collegiate career at the UNC Quad, scoring 38.125 ... She followed with a career-best mark of 38.250 last Sunday at the Ohio State Tri-meet ... Her best individual event score of the year came on beam at OSU with a score of 9.750.

» SCORING HIGH IN 2024:
- Ball State has registered 18 scores of 9.800-or-higher so far this season, with eight coming at the UNC Quad (Jan. 5) and 10 at the Ohio State Tri-meet (Jan. 14) ... Of the 18 routines, six have come on floor, six on bars, five on vault and one on beam ... The total includes six scores of 9.900-or-better.

» RECORDS UNDER SALEEM:
- In the program's first 11 seasons under head coach Joanna Saleem, Ball State has tallied the 26 best team scores in program history … In fact, of Ball State's 30 scores of 195.450-or-higher, 28 have been set by Saleem's squads.
- 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 36 entries on the vault record book are held by Saleem's teams, as are 20 of 26 scores on floor, 20 of 27 scores on bars and 19 of 24 scores on beam.

» MORE FROM THE FRESHMAN CLASS: Freshman Lindsay Fuller currently ranks second on the squad on beam with an average score of 9.638 ... The effort includes a 9.725 in her collegiate debut at the UNC Quad (Jan. 5) ... Freshman Ava Molina also made her collegiate competition debut at UNC, scoring a 9.725 on floor.

» A FEW MORE EARLY HIGHLIGHTS:
- Junior Carissa Martinez made her Ball State debut at the UNC Quad (Jan. 5) with a 9.600 on floor ... She would go on to tie her career-best vault mark score of 9.750 at the Ohio State Tri-meet (Jan. 14).
- Sophomore Grace Sumner turned in season-best marks of 9.825 on bars and 9.775 on beam last weekend at Ohio State.

Gymnastics Set For Friday's Tennessee Collegiate Classic

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lindsay Fuller

Victoria Henry

Carissa Martinez

Zoe Middleton

Ava Molina

Suki Pfister

Hannah Ruthberg

Grace Sumner

Ashley Szymanski

Megan Teter