Gymnastics Set To Host MAC Championships Saturday

Ball State (14-4; 5-1 MAC) hosts 2024 MAC Championships
Meet 12 - 2024 MAC Championships	Saturday, March 23 at 2 p.m. Live Results \| ESPN+
Tickets Info	Single Meet: $10 Adult / $5 Youth (18-&-Under) Purchase Tickets Online
Notes	Ball State \| MAC Championships Central
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics program welcomes the league's other six schools to Worthen Arena Saturday afternoon for the 2024 Mid-American Conference Gymnastics Championships ... Action begins at 2 p.m. ET with the meet broadcast live on ESPN+

» WHEN THE CHAMPIONSHIPS IS IN MUNCIE: This will be the seventh time the Mid-American Conference Championships have been held in Muncie, with the last coming in 2016 ... Ball State's only MAC Championship title came on the Worthen Arena floor in 2002, while it finished second at home in both 1995 and 2016.

» BALL STATE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS:
- Ball State enters the MAC Championships ranked 35th nationally with an NQS of 196.520 and is mathematically locked for a berth into the 2024 NCAA Championships according to the latest Road to Nationals Rankings.
- BSU's program record score of 198.025 at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 19) is the 31st-highest team score in the nation ... The Cardinals were the first program in the country to break the 198 mark this season, while No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Cal, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Utah, No. 6 Kentucky, No. 7 Alabama, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 11 UCLA and No. 12 Arkansas are the only programs to score higher than Ball State since.
- The Cardinals have proven to be one of the nation's top bars teams this season, ranking 23rd nationally with an NQS of 49.255 ... In fact, Ball State's program record score of 49.775 on bars at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 19) ties as the seventh-best team score on any apparatus in the nation this season.
- So far this season, there have been a total of 72 perfect 10.0s scored nationally ... Three of them have come from Ball State gymnasts, starting with senior Suki Pfister on vault at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 19) ... Sophomore Zoe Middleton and graduate student Megan Teter added perfect 10.0s on bars later in the meet, the first two perfect 10.0s in program history in the event.
- BSU gymnasts also boasts three of the nation's 186 scores of 9.975 this season including Victoria Henry's vault at the Ohio State Tri-Meet (Jan. 14), Ashley Szymanski's bars routine in the home opener versus Bowling Green (Jan. 22) and Suki Pfister's vault at George Washington (Feb. 23).

» ALL-MAC HONORS: A program record six Ball State gymnasts earned All-Mid-American Conference honors for the 2024 season ... Representing the Cardinals on the First Team All-MAC squad were senior Suki Pfister on vault and freshman Ashley Szymanski on bars ... Earning Second Team All-MAC honors were senior Victoria Henry on vault, senior Hannah Ruthberg on beam, sophomore Zoe Middleton on floor and graduate student Megan Teter in the all-around.

» A THIRD FOR PFISTER: Suki Pfister earned First Team All-MAC honors on vault for the third straight season after ranking first in the league and fifth nationally with a national qualifying score (NQS) of 9.935 ... A three-time MAC Specialist of the Week this season, Pfister has turned in seven vault scores of 9.900-or-higher this season, including only the second perfect 10.00 on the apparatus in program history ... She has also won the vault competition in seven events, while placing second in three others.

» MORE ON PFISTER: The first All-American in program history, earning WCGA second team honors last season, Suki Pfister has had 17 of her 43 collegiate vault performances score 9.900-or-higher ... The total includes one 10.0, one 9.975, four 9.950s, three 9.925s and eight 9.900s.

» OH, SHE ROCKS THE FLOOR TOO: In addition to being one of the nation's leaders on vault, Suki Pfister has shined on the floor for the Cardinals this season, including tying the program record for a second time in her career with a 9.950 at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 19) ... She also has a 9.925 vs. Eastern Michigan (March 17) and a 9.900 vs. Bowling Green (Jan. 22), while ranking 12th in the league with a floor NQS of 9.880.

» FRESHMAN SHINING ON BARS: Ashley Szymanski earned First Team All-MAC honors on bars in her debut season after ranking first in the league and 28th nationally with an NQS of 9.910 ... She has won the bars competition in five meets this season and has turned in five routines of 9.900-or-higher ... Her career-best score was a 9.975 in her MAC debut versus Bowling Green (Jan. 22).

» HENRY WITH A THIRD OF HER OWN: Victoria Henry earned Second Team All-MAC honors for the third time in her career after ranking second in the league with a vault NQS of 9.885 ... She turned in a career-best 9.975 to win the event at the Ohio State Tri Meet (Jan. 14) and added a 9.950 at George Washington (Feb. 23) ... Henry, who has competed in the all-around for the Cardinals much of the season, has also set career marks on bars (9.925), beam (9.850), floor (9.925) and in the all-around (39.475) in 2024.

» HENRY HITTING THE 9.900 MARK: Senior Victoria Henry has registered 19 scores of 9.900-or-better over her career, including nine so far this season ... The total includes nine floor routines, eight vaults and two bars performances ... In last Sunday's dual versus Eastern Michigan, Henry won vault with a 9.925, while taking third on bars at 9.900.

» A SOPHOMORE SENSATION: Zoe Middleton earned Second Team All-MAC honors for the first time in her career after ranking second in the league on floor with an NQS of 9.920 ... She has posted five scores of 9.925 on floor, while also tallying a 9.900 ... A three-time MAC Gymnast of the Week, Middleton is also BSU's top all-around gymnasts with an NQS of 39.330 ... She leads Ball State with 30 scores of 9.800-or-better this season, including the first perfect 10.0 in program history on bars and a program record 39.750 in the all-around ... She has also turned in career-best scores on vault (9.950) and beam (9.900) this season, while earning eight individual event wins and four all-around titles.

» YOU CAN COUNT ON HER: Over her first two seasons, Zoe Middleton has seen 78 of her 83 total routines count in the final team score ... The effort includes 41 of 44 routines this season, along with 37 of 39 routines her freshman campaign ... Over that time, Ball State has turned in the top nine teams scores in program history, along with 17 of the top 20.
» RUTHBERG SHINES IN SENIOR SEASON: Hannah Ruthberg earned Second Team All-MAC honors for the first time in her career for her effort on beam, in which she ranks fourth in the league with an NQS of 9.850 ... She turned in a career-best beam performance of 9.900 in the dual win at Western Michigan (Feb. 17), while scoring 9.800-or-higher in eight meets ... Another all-around gymnast for the Cardinals, Ruthberg has also turned in career-best scores on vault (9.875), bars (9.925), floor (9.925) and in the all-around (39.425) this season.

» TETER TAKES ADVANTAGE OF EXTRA RUN: Megan Teter took advantage of her COVID year of eligibility, earning Second Team All-MAC honors for the first time in her career after ranking seventh in the league with an all-around NQS of 39.190 ... In her first season as an all-around gymnast for the Cardinals, Teter has turned in 17 total routines of 9.800-or-better, including the second perfect 10.0 in program history on bars ... She has also registered a career-best all-around score of 39.575 this season, while posting career-best scores on beam (9.875) and floor (9.925).

» RECORDS FALL AGAIN AT TENNESSEE COLLEGIATE CLASSIC:
- For the second consecutive season, Ball State shattered records at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 19), highlighted by a team record score of 198.025 ... The Cardinals were the first program in the nation to break the 198 mark this season, with the score also being a Mid-American Conference record ... The effort included program event records on vault (49.375), bars (49.775) and floor (49.625), as well as the fourth best beam score in program history (49.250).
- Ball State's gymnasts registered a program meet record 12 scores of 9.900-or-higher, including perfect 10.0s by Suki Pfister (vault), Zoe Middleton (bars) and Megan Teter (bars) ... Prior to the meet, the Cardinals only had one perfect 10 in program history.
- Ball State's student-athletes also earned 21 career best scores over the course of the meet, with each athlete who competed tallying at least one.

» MORE RECORD NOTES FROM TENNESSEE:
- On floor, Suki Pfister tied the program record for a second time in her career with a 9.950 ... Three Cardinals, Carissa Martinez, Zoe Middleton and Megan Teter, all earned 9.925s, while Hannah Ruthberg added a 9.900 ... It marked the first time in program history all five countable scores on an event were 9.900-or-higher.
- Ball State produced five of the top 10 individual bars scores in program history later in the meet, led by the first two perfect 10s on bars in the BSU record book from Zoe Middleton and Megan Teter ... The Cardinals also received 9.925s on bars from Ashley Szymanski, Victoria Henry and Hannah Ruthberg to give the program its first-ever event with all five countable scores at 9.925-or-higher.
- Zoe Middleton crushed the program's all-around record with a 39.750, including a 10.0 on bars, a 9.950 on vault, a 9.925 on floor and a 9.875 on beam ... It currently ties as the 14th-highest individual all-around score in the nation this season.

» A RECORD OPENER AS WELL: Ball State started the season with the best opening meet score in program history with a 194.925 at the UNC Quad (Jan. 5) ... The previous record was 194.475 set at Kentucky to open the 2018 season.

» SHINING ON FLOOR: Along with owning the nation's third-best event team score this season with its 49.775 on bars at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 19), Ball State's 49.625 on floor the same night is tied as the nation's 38th-best team effort on floor ... The Cardinals enter the MAC Championships ranked 23rd nationally with a floor NQS of 49.370, including 20 individual routines of 9.900-or-higher, led by Suki Pfister's program-record tying effort of 9.950 also set at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic.

SCORING HIGH IN 2024:
- Ball State has registered 154 scores of 9.800-or-higher so far this season, led by the team's 22 at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 19) and 19 at George Washington (Feb. 23) ... Of the 154 routines, 45 have come on floor, 44 on bars, 35 on vault and 30 on beam ... The total includes 48 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 35 best team scores in program history … In fact, of Ball State's 39 scores of 195.450-or-higher, 37 have been set by Saleem's squads.
- Saleem's squads own the event records on all four apparatus: vault (49.375), bars (49.775), beam (49.350), and floor (49.625).
- All 44 team entries in the vault record book are held by Saleem's teams, as are 27 of 34 scores on bars, 26 of 32 scores on floor and 25 of 30 scores on beam.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Victoria Henry

Carissa Martinez

Zoe Middleton

Suki Pfister

Hannah Ruthberg

Ashley Szymanski

Megan Teter