Gymnastics Opens 2024 Season Friday at UNC Quad

Friday, January 5

Chapel Hill, NC

7:30 p.m.

Ball State University

North Carolina

January 04, 2024 | Gymnastics

Ball State Gymnastics at UNC Quad
Meet 1 - at North Carolina w/Rutgers and Utah State	Friday, Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET Live Results \| ACCNX
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Notes	Ball State \| North Carolina \| Rutgers \| Utah State
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics program officially opens the 2024 season Friday when it travels to North Carolina for the UNC Quad ... Along with the host Tar Heels, the Cardinals will battle Rutgers and Utah State starting at 7:30 p.m. inside Carmichael Arena.

» QUICK 2023 RECAP: Ball State is coming off perhaps the most successful campaign in program history with the 2023 squad earning a team berth into the NCAA Regionals, as well as the first-ever Mid-American Conference regular season championship in program history ... The Cardinals recorded nine of the top 10 team scores in the Ball State record book last season, led by a program record score of 196.900 in the March 12 dual versus Western Michigan.

» MORE FROM NCAA REGIONALS: While Ball State suffered a 196.075 to 195.375 setback to NC State in the First Round of the NCAA Norman Regional, the team still sent five student-athletes to compete as individuals in the second round ... Hannah Ruthberg (sixth place) represented Ball State in the all-around, while Megan Teter competed on floor (fifth place) and bars (10th place), Grace Sumner performed on beam (seventh place) and Suki Pfister (13th place) and Victoria Henry (26th-place) competed on vault ... All five NCAA Second Round individual competitors return for the 2024 season.

» A PROGRAM FIRST: Suki Pfister made history last season, becoming the first Ball State gymnast to earn regular season All-America honors as announced by the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) ... By finishing the regular season tied for 14th nationally with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 9.915 on vault, Pfister earned a spot on the WCGA All-America Second Team ... The Mid-American Conference Specialist of the Year in each of the last two seasons, Pfister registered six vault scores of 9.900-or-higher last season ... Her best vaults came versus Central Michigan (Feb. 26) and Western Michigan (March 12) when she tied her career-best score of 9.950.

» 2023 MAC ACCOLADES:
- For the second straight season, Suki Pfister was named the MAC Specialist of the Year after leading the league and tying for 14th nationally with a vault NQS of 9.915 ... In addition, Pfister earned a spot on the All-MAC First Team for the second consecutive season.
- Victoria Henry was also awarded for her effort on vault this season, earning Second Team All-MAC honors after finishing the regular season ranked second in the league and 38th nationally with a NQS of 9.885 ... Henry, who also earned Second Team All-MAC honors as a freshman in 2021, went on to win the vault competition with a career-best 9.950 at the 2023 MAC Championships to raise her NQS to 9.895 which tied for 35th nationally.
- After helping guide the Cardinals to nine of the top 10 team scores in the BSU record book last season, as well as a share of the league's regular season championship for the first time in program history, head coach Joanna Saleem was named the 2023 MAC Coach of the Year ... It is the second career MAC Coach of the Year honor for Saleem, who was also tabbed the league's top coach in 2021.
- For their efforts at the 2023 MAC Championship Victoria Henry, Hannah Ruthberg and Megan Teter were named to the MAC All-Tournament Team ... In addition to winning the vault, Henry tied for fourth on floor with a score of 9.900 and tied for eighth in the all-around at 39.075 ... Ruthberg turned in a solid all-around performance of her own, placing fifth overall with a score of 39.300 ... The effort, which included a 9.850 on bars, 9.825s on vault and floor, and a 9.800 on beam, tied as the eighth-best all-around score in program history ... Teter also had a strong day for the Cardinals, tying for second on bars with a 9.925 and closing the meet with a 9.900 on floor to tie for fourth and help catapult Ball State into second place.

» TEAM RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCES IN 2023:
- Ball State's score of 196.900 versus Western Michigan (March 12) marked the second time the Cardinals broke the program record for team score in 2023, the first was a 196.550 at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 20).
- Of the top 10 team scores in program history, nine come last season.
- Ball State broke the vault team score record with 49.250 at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic and tied the mark at Bowling Green (March 3) … In fact, BSU registered the four best team vault scores in program history last season.
- The Cardinals also registered the top four beam team scores in program history last season, led by a program record of 49.350 at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic.

» INDIVIDUAL RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCES IN 2023:
- Ball State tallied a program record seven individual scores of 9.900-or-higher at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 20) … 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.
- Megan Teter set the program record on bars with a 9.950 at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic and has four career bars routines of 9.900-or-higher.
- Suki Pfister tied the program record on floor with her 9.950 at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic … She has also tallied three scores of 9.950 on vault over her career, with the latest coming versus Western Michigan (March 12) last season.
- Four Cardinals tied the program record on beam last season, starting with Taylor Waldo and Grace Evans scoring 9.925s at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic … Waldo and Grace Sumner earned 9.925s on beam during the Ball State Quad (Jan. 29), while Waldo and Lauren Volpe landed 9.925s versus Northern Illinois (Feb. 12).
- Ball State also saw the all-around program record topped last season when Victoria Henry scored a 39.400 versus Central Michigan (Feb. 26) … 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.
- Hannah Ruthberg would follow with a 39.400 of her own in the quad meet at Missouri (March 10) … Her performance was highlighted by a career-best 9.900 on beam and included 9.850s on vault and bars, as well as a 9.800 on floor.

» RECORDS UNDER SALEEM:
- In the program's first decade under head coach Joanna Saleem, Ball State has tallied the 25 best team scores in program history … In fact, of Ball State's 29 scores of 195.450-or-higher, 27 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 35 entries on the vault record book are held by Saleem's teams, as are 19 of 24 scores on beam, 19 of 25 scores on floor, and 19 of 26 scores on bars.

» VAULTING OFF STRONG:
- Ball State's best event last season was vault, with the Cardinals ranking first in the MAC and tied for 23rd nationally with an NQS score of 49.170.
- Ball State's program-record vault score of 49.250 at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 20), and later tied at Bowling Green (March 3), was the second-best in the MAC last season and tied as the 33rd-best team high score in the nation.

» SCORING HIGH IN 2023:
- Overall, the Cardinals registered 179 scores of 9.800-or-higher last season … 58 of those performance have come on floor, including a 9.950 from Suki Pfister and 9.925s from Victoria Henry, Zoe Middleton, and Megan Teter.
- Ball State added 45 scores of 9.800-or-better on vault, paced by a pair of 9.950s, a 9.925, and a trifecta of 9.900s by Suki Pfister … Victoria Henry also has a 9.950, a pair 9.925s and a 9.900 on vault last season.
- The Cardinals also boasted 40 scores of 9.800-or-better on bars and 36 on beam last season … Megan Teter's program record score of 9.950 led the team on bars, while Taylor Waldo, Grace Evans, Grace Sumner, and Lauren Volpe all tied the program record on beam at 9.925 … In fact, Waldo has hit the mark three times last season, most recently in the dual win over Northern Illinois (Feb. 12).

» 2023 FRESHMAN IMPACT:
- Freshman Zoe Middleton found an immediate home in the Ball State lineup, competing in three events in all 13 meets last season … Her best meet 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 in the last three meets regular season meets.
- Of Zoe Middleton's 39 routines last season, 37 of her scores counted towards Ball State's team total.
- 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 sixth-best mark in program history.

» MORE FROM THE 2023 NEWBIES:
- 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), versus Northern Illinois (Feb. 12) and against Western Michigan (March 12).

» SENSATIONAL SOPHOMORE SEASON:
- After a strong freshman campaign in 2022, Grace Sumner did not miss a beat last season, including tying the program record on beam with her 9.925 at the Ball State Quad (Jan. 29) … In addition, she scored a career-best bars routine of 9.850 versus Northern Illinois (Feb. 12).
- Overall, Sumner tallied 14 scores of 9.800-or-better last season, including a 9.925 and a pair of 9.900s on beam.

» FRESH FACES FOR 2024:
- The Cardinals welcome six new faces for the 2024 season, including junior Carissa Martinez who transferred in from Centenary College ... In her two seasons with the Ladies, Martinez registered career-best scores of 9.800 on both beam and floor, as well as 9.750 on vault.
- True freshmen coming in for Ball State are Lindsay Fuller, Lindsay Girard, Delaney McMahon, Ava Molina and Ashley Szymanski.