Gymnastics Opens NCAA Regional Action Wednesday vs. Illinois

Ball State (14-4) at NCAA Ann Arbor Regional
First Round vs. Illinois	Wednesday, April 3 at 2 p.m. Live Results \| ESPN+
NCAA Second Round	Thursday, April 4 at 7 p.m. Live Results \| ESPN+
NCAA Ann Arbor Regional Final	Saturday, April 6 at 5 p.m. Live Results \| ESPN+
Tickets Info	Single Session: $10 Adult / $8 Youth/Student/Senior All Session: $25 Adult / $20 Youth/Student/Senior Purchase Tickets Online
Notes	Ball State \| NCAA Ann Arbor Regional Central
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics team returns to the NCAA Regionals for the second straight season, and third time in program history, Wednesday when it battles Illinois at 2 p.m. ET in the first round of the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional hosted by Michigan at the Crisler Center.

» BALL STATE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS:
- Ball State earned its team berth in the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional by ranking 34th nationally with an NQS of 196.600.
- BSU's program record score of 198.025 at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 19) is the 33rd-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 LSU, No. 3 Cal, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Utah, No. 7 Kentucky, No. 8 Alabama, No. 9 UCLA, No. 10 Michigan State 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 24th 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 80 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 197 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).

» INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: If Ball State were not to advance out of the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional First Round on Wednesday, five individuals earned spots to compete Thursday ... Zoe Middleton qualified in the all-around, while Suki Pfister (vault & floor), Victoria Henry (vault), Megan Teter (bars) and Ashley Szymanski (bars) also earned individual berths.

» ANOTHER PFISTER FIRST: Senior Suki Pfister continued to make history for the Ball State Gymnastics program, becoming the first gymnast in program history to earn WCGA First Team All-America honors ... Pfister earns the honor after finishing the regular season tied for fifth in the nation with a vault NQS of 9.935 ... The first WCGA All-American in program history after earning second team honors last season, Pfister has had 17 of her 44 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.

» 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 X2: Suki Pfister earned First Team All-MAC honors on vault for the third straight season and also picked up her third consecutive MAC Specialist of the Year honor ... 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.

» OH, SHE ROCKS THE FLOOR TOO: In addition to being one of the nation's leaders on vault, Suki Pfister was crowned a MAC Floor Champion after turning in a 9.900 at the MAC Championships ... It is the first MAC title of Pfister's illustrious career ... Along with her league title, Pfister tied 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 seventh in the league with a floor NQS of 9.895.

» FRESHMAN SHINING ON BARS: Ashley Szymanski was crowned a MAC Bars Champion after scoring a 9.925 in her league championships debut ... That followed a season which saw her earn First Team All-MAC honors on bars after ranking first in the league and 24th nationally with an NQS of 9.920 ... Including her MAC title, Szymanski has won the bars competition in six meets this season and has turned in six routines of 9.900-or-higher ... Her career-best score was a 9.975 in her MAC debut versus Bowling Green (Jan. 22).

» A SOPHOMORE SENSATION: Zoe Middleton turned in a dominating performance at the MAC Championships, winning titles in the all-around (39.525), beam (9.900) and floor (9.900) ... Just the second all-around champion in program history, she is also the first Ball State gymnast to win capture three MAC individual titles in one season.

» MORE ON MIDDLETON: In addition to earning three MAC individual championships, 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 pair of 9.900s ... A three-time MAC Gymnast of the Week, Middleton is also BSU's top all-around gymnast with an NQS of 39.390 ... She leads Ball State with 34 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 10 individual event wins and five all-around titles.

» YOU CAN COUNT ON HER: Over her first two seasons, Zoe Middleton has seen 82 of her 87 total routines count in the final team score ... The effort includes 45 of 48 routines this season, along with 37 of 39 routines her freshman campaign ... Over that time, Ball State has turned in the top 10 teams scores in program history, along with 18 of the top 20.

» 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 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 the regular season finale versus Eastern Michigan (March 17), Henry won vault with a 9.925, while taking third on bars at 9.900.

» 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 fifth 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 nine 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 19 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 vault (9,850), 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 41st-best team effort on floor ... The Cardinals enter NCAA Regionals ranked 25th nationally with a floor NQS of 49.370, including 22 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 169 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 169 routines, 49 have come on floor, 48 on bars, 38 on vault and 34 on beam ... The total includes 53 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 36 best team scores in program history … In fact, of Ball State's 40 scores of 195.450-or-higher, 38 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 45 team entries in the vault record book are held by Saleem's teams, as are 28 of 35 scores on bars, 27 of 33 scores on floor and 26 of 31 scores on beam.

Gymnastics Opens NCAA Regional Action Wednesday vs. Illinois

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Players Mentioned

Victoria Henry

Carissa Martinez

Zoe Middleton

Suki Pfister

Hannah Ruthberg

Ashley Szymanski

Megan Teter