Gymnastics Soars Past Kent State With Solid Effort on Bars and Floor

MUNCIE, Ind. - - Ball State continued to shine on both bars and floor Sunday, using strong efforts in each rotation to earn a hard-fought 196.075-195.525 victory over Kent State in front of another high-energy crowd in Worthen Arena.

"We had some shining moments of greatness, and we had some moments of mistakes," head coach Joanna Saleem said after the meet. "Typically, we're pretty good at starting off strong on vault, but today we weren't as refined. However, as I told them after the meet, I was proud of the fact we never got frantic. Even when there were mistakes, we stayed patient, we stayed confident and continued to do solid gymnastics as a unit. That's how we ended up with a win at the end. It's good to see their ability to adapt when things are not hitting right on point."

After a slow start on vault, the Cardinals (9-1; 2-0 MAC) proved why it's one of the nation's best on bars, tying the third-best team score in program history with a 49.275. The effort was led by senior Hannah Ruthbergwho captured the event title and tied her career-best mark with a routine of 9.925.

Freshman Ashley Szymanski and graduate student Megan Teter each added 9.900s, with Szymanski's score being her fourth 9.900-or-higher on bars this season.

The big effort on bars in the second rotation helped the Cardinals hold a slim 146.750-to-146.700 advantage heading into the final rotation. That's when BSU's floor squad took control of the meet with all six gymnasts in the lineup scoring 9.775-or-higher.

Sophomore Zoe Middleton paved the way, tying her career-best on the event and earning the follow win with BSU's second 9.925 of the day. Teter also added her second 9.900 of the competition to give BSU five total scores of 9.900-or-higher, four better than the Golden Flashes (6-3; 0-1 MAC) earned on the day.

Throw in a 9.875 from senior Victoria Henry and a strong floor start of 9.850 from Ruthberg, as well as 9.775s from freshman Ava Molina and senior Suki Pfister, and the Cardinals boasted a team floor score of 49.325 to dominate the final rotation as KSU scored 48.825 on beam.

While the Cardinals did their best in the above two rotations mentioned above, there were solid efforts on the other two apparatus as well, with Pfister winning vault with her 9.850 and junior Grace Sumner tying for second on beam at 9.850.

Led by her 9.925 on bars and 9.850 on floor, Ruthberg captured the meet's all-around title with a 39.300. She also scored 9.825 on beam and 9.700 on vault.

Teter was a close second at 39.200, counting her 9.900s on bars and floor, along with a 9.725 on vault and a 9.675 on beam.

"What I am really excited about from today is that even though mistakes that were made, it didn't avalanche on us," Saleem added "That's a huge moment for us, being able to go out and compete until the last routine despite a few mishaps here and there."

The Cardinals will be up for another tough league test Friday, when it travels to Mount Pleasant, Michigan, for a 6 p.m. showdown with Central Michigan.

Gymnastics Soars Past Kent State With Solid Effort on Bars and Floor

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Players Mentioned

Victoria Henry

Zoe Middleton

Ava Molina

Suki Pfister

Hannah Ruthberg

Grace Sumner

Ashley Szymanski

Megan Teter