Gymnastics Smashes Records at Tennessee Collegiate Classic

LEBANON, Tenn. - - It was a meet for the record books Friday night at the Farm Bureau Expo Center in Lebanon, Tennessee, as Ball State gymnastics walked away with a trio of perfect 10s and a program record team score of 198.025.

"It was a heck of a night," head coach Joanna Saleem said. "It was a lot of fun to watch them go out and perform the way we have been practicing. Getting after landings, the handstands and all the detail work we have been focusing on. It's a fun meet to participate in and I'm really excited for how they handled the night."

On an evening when nearly every routine hit, the Cardinals registered 22 scores of 9.800-or-higher, including 12 at 9.900-or-higher, to post the best team score in the NATION so far this season. It's also the Mid-American Conference team score record in the seven-team era.

The night started on beam, with the team producing five scores of 9.800-or-higher to earn a 49.250, the fourth-highest beam score in program history. Seniors Victoria Henry and Hannah Ruthberg led the way with 9.875s.

Moments later, Ruthberg started the 9.9+ barrage with BSU's first floor routine of the night at 9.900. It only took off from there, as senior Suki Pfister tied the program record with a mark of 9.950. Throw in 9.925s from graduate student Megan Teter, junior Carissa Martinez and sophomore Zoe Middleton, the Cardinals earned a program record floor score of 49.625.

Transitioning to vault, Middleton followed a pair of 9.800s with a career-best mark of 9.950. That set up Pfister who landed the first perfect 10 of her career and just the second in program history at the time. Throw in a 9.825 by Henry to end the rotation and BSU produced a program record team vault score of 49.375.

"Suki's vault has been so good for so long," Saleem said. "For her to get a 10 on it finally, it's so exciting."

It would only get better from there, as Ball State closed out the night with the best event performance in program history, scoring a record 49.775 on bars. The effort included the first bars 10s in program history from both Middleton and Teter, as well as 9.925s from Ruthberg, Henry and freshman Ashley Szymanski.

"Megan swings so well on bars and had such a great routine," Saleem added. "I'm so excited that as a fifth year, she got a 10. Zoe's gymnastics is so good, so awesome. To watch her get the 10 on bars and a 9.950 on vault was really cool."

Overall, Middleton would walk away with the all-around title, earning a program record score of 39.750 with her 10 on bars, 9.950 on vault, 9.925 on floor and 9.875 on beam. Teter's all-around score of 39.575 was the second-best score in program history, while Henry followed with the third best (39.450) and Ruthberg tied the sixth best (39.375).

Throw it all together, and the Cardinals earned head-to-head wins over Kent State (197.725), Southeast Missouri (197.050) and Wisconsin-Whitewater (194.450) on the night.

"I'm so proud of these talented young women," Saleem concluded. "They really held up under the pressure, heading into the last event with Kent State ahead at the time. They went after it, and it was so fun to watch."

The Ball State gymnastics team will look to repeat the magic this coming Monday (Jan. 22), when it hosts Bowling Green for Squishmallows Night in Worthen Arena starting at 7 p.m.

For tickets to the meet, call 1.888.BSU.TICKET or purchase online at https://BallStateSports.com/GymnasticsTickets.

Gymnastics Smashes Records at Tennessee Collegiate Classic

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Players Mentioned

Victoria Henry

Carissa Martinez

Zoe Middleton

Suki Pfister

Hannah Ruthberg

Ashley Szymanski

Megan Teter