Gymnastics Travels to EMU for Golden Girls Classic

Ball State Gymnastics at Golden Girls Classic (hosted by EMU)
Meet 3 - at Golden Girls Classic at Eastern Michigan; w/Northern Illinois & Winona State	Friday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. ET Live Results \| ESPN+
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Notes	Ball State \| Eastern Michigan \| Northern Illinois \| Winona State
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics team returns to action Friday evening, when it travels to Eastern Michigan for the Golden Girls Classic which is slated to being at 6 p.m. at the Gervin GameAbove Center ... In addition to the Cardinals and host Eagles, Northern Illinois and Winona State will compete in the quad meet.

» UP NEXT AT HOME: SQUISHMALLOWS DAY: Following the trip to Ypsilanti, the Ball State gymnastics team returns home Sunday, Jan. 26 when it hosts Western Michigan and Wilberforce for Squishmallows Day ... The Cardinals encourage fans to bring their favorite fluff-filled friends and enjoy a fun-filled afternoon of gymnastics action ... Ball State student-athletes will also throw out Squishmallows to fans throughout the night, including for each routine hitting 9.750-or-higher.

» MORE PROMOTIONS:
- Next Sunday's tri-meet will also serve as Alumni Day for the Cardinals, with alumni in attendance honored over the course of the afternoon.
- Ball State's sophomore class will be available for autographs and photos following the conclusion of the meet.

» GET YOUR TICKETS NOW: Looking to join us in the gymnastics fun for the 2025 season, purchase your season tickets now at a discounted cost of $32 for adults and $16 for youth (3-18 years old) ... Single meet tickets are also available at $10 for adults and $5 for youth ... Visit https://BallStateSports.com/GymTickets to purchase of for more information.

» OFF TO A SOLID START: Ball State opened the 2025 campaign at Missouri's Beauty and the Beast Night (Jan. 3) by tying the best opening-meet team score in program history with a 194.925 ... It was the best team score in the MAC and 14th-best among all NCAA gymnastics programs opening weekend ... It tied the effort set at last year's UNC Quad (Jan. 5, 2024), while the previous record was 194.475 set at Kentucky to open the 2018 season.

» THE ERAS CELEBRATION: This past Sunday (Jan. 12), the Cardinals opened the home portion of its schedule by winning the Ball State Quad on Taylor Swift Era Day in Worthen Arena ... Ball State's team score of 194.450 topped last season's NCAA Regional rival Illinois (194.175), along with SEMO (189.750) and Wisconsin-Eau Claire (181.500).

» CARDINALS DOMINATE THE FLOOR ERA: Ball State's best rotation to date this season was last Sunday's Floor Era ... The Cardinals turned in a team score of 39.150, with all five countable scores earning at least 9.775 ... Junior Zoe Middleton led the way, turning in BSU's best score of the season to date with a 9.900 to close out the competitive lineup ... Middleton's 9.900 is also the best floor score in the MAC so far this season and has her ranked 14th nationally ... The Cardinals also counted a 9.850 from graduate Hannah Ruthberg, a 9.825 from junior Alauna Simms, a 9.800 from senior Carissa Martinez and a 9.775 from sophomore Ava Molina.

» BARS OFF TO A STRONG START TOO: Ball State's best event opening weekend came on bars, with the Cardinals earning the then-10th-best score in the nation at 49.050 ... Sophomore Ashley Szymanski led the way, earning a 9.875 for her routine which is currently the second-best bars score in the MAC this season ... Senior Grace Sumner and junior Mary Rose Bellan followed with scores of 9.850 which are tied for third in the league.

» MORE ON SZYMANSKI: Ashley Szymanski was crowned a MAC Bars Champion after scoring a 9.925 in her league championships debut last season ... That followed a regular 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 over her collegiate career and turned in seven routines of 9.900-or-higher ... Her career-best score was a 9.975 in her MAC debut versus Bowling Green (Jan. 22).

» RUTHBERG EARNS BSU'S FIRST MAC HONOR OF 2025: Graduate Hannah Ruthberg opened her fifth season for the Cardinals with a bang, leading the squad on three events and placing second in the all-around at Missouri's Beauty and the Beast Night (Jan. 3) ... The effort helped her earn MAC Gymnast of the Week honors for the third time in her career ... Ruthberg's all-around score of 39.075 also led all MAC student-athletes opening weekend and included scores of 9.800 on beam, 9.775 on floor and 9.750 on vault and bars.

» MORE ON RUTHBERG: Hannah Ruthberg has been a staple in the Ball State lineup over her career, including competing all-around in each of the last 28 meets ... In fact, Ruthberg has competed all-around in 39 of her 50 collegiate meets and owns four of the top 20 all-around scores in program history ... Her best effort was a 39.425 last season at George Washington (Feb. 23), which is the sixth-best score in program history ... In addition, Ruthberg turned in career-best scores on all four apparatuses last season, including a 9.925 on floor, a pair of 9.925s on bars, a 9.900 on beam and a 9.875 on vault.

» MIDDLETON GOES 7-FOR-7: Junior Zoe Middleton has gone 7-for-7 so far this season, with all seven of her routines counting in the final team score, paced by her 9.900 on floor at the Ball State Quad (Jan. 12) ...Over her collegiate career, Middleton has seen 93 of her 98 total routines count in the final team score ... The effort includes 49 of 52 routines last season, along with 37 of 39 routines her freshman campaign ... Over that time, Ball State has turned in the top 10 team scores in program history, along with 18 of the top 20.

» NEW FACES SHINE: Ball State has seen six new student-athletes break into the competitive lineup during the first two weeks of the season, while one also made her debut on a new apparatus.
- Sophomore Ava Molina made her first career appearance on beam at Missouri and followed with a career-best score of 9.775 in the event at the Ball State Quad (Jan. 12) ... Molina also returned to both the floor and bars lineups after competing in each event last season.
- After making her collegiate competitive debut on floor at Missouri (Jan. 3), junior Alauna Simms took it up a notch at the Ball State Quad ... She was named the team's MVP for the meet after score a career-best 9.825 in the event.
- Sophomore Delaney McMahon made her competitive debut on beam at Missouri, tying for BSU's second-best score with a 9.775.
- Sophomore Lindsay Girard made her competitive debut on both floor (9.550) and vault (9.625) at Missouri, with her vault score counting in BSU's final team tally.
- Senior Cai Afalla turned in a pair of countable scores in her debut in the lineup at Missouri, earning a 9.775 on floor and a 9.725 on vault ... She also competed on both events during the Ball State Quad.
- The lone freshman to see action in the lineup so far this season is Karli Mercer who currently ranks third on the team and 19th in the MAC on vault with an average score of 9.713, including a career-best 9.725 at Missouri.
- Junior Mary Rose Bellan rounds out Ball State's new faces in the competitive lineup, tying for the team's second-best score with a 9.850 on bars at Missouri

» WELCOME BACK SUKI: The first All-American in program history, earning WCGA First Team All-America in 2024 and WCGA Second Team All-America in 2023, Suki Pfister will be returning for one more go around with the Cardinals in 2025 ... Pfister, who owns program records on both vault (10.0) and floor (9.950), finished the 2024 regular season tied for fifth nationally with a vault NQS of 9.935, has turned in a score of 9.900-or-higher on 18 of her 46 collegiate vaults ... The total includes one 10.0, one 9.975, four 9.950s, three 9.925s and nine 9.900s.

» PFISTER ROCKS THE FLOOR TOO: In addition to being one of the nation's vault leaders, Suki Pfister was crowned a 2024 MAC Floor Champion after earning 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) ... Of her 16 collegiate floor routines, six have produced scores of 9.900-or-higher.

» SCORING HIGH IN 2025: So far this season, the Cardinals have produced 13 scores of 9.800-or-better, with four coming at Missouri (Jan. 3) and nine at the Ball State Quad (Jan. 12) ... Of the 13, four have come on both bars and floor, while three have come on beam and two have come on vault ... Last season, Ball State registered 187 scores of 9.800-or-higher, led by the team's 22 at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic (Jan. 19) and 19 at George Washington (Feb. 23) ... Of the 187 routines, 54 were on floor, 53 on bars, 44 on vault and 36 on beam ... The total included 55 scores of 9.900-or-better.

» RECORDS UNDER SALEEM:
- In the program's first 12 seasons under head coach Joanna Saleem, Ball State has tallied the 37 best team scores in program history … In fact, of Ball State's 41 scores of 195.450-or-higher, 39 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 46 team entries in the vault record book are held by Saleem's teams, as are 29 of 36 scores on bars, 28 of 34 scores on floor and 27 of 32 scores on beam.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cai Afalla

Mary Rose Bellan

Lindsay Girard

Carissa Martinez

Delaney McMahon

Karli Mercer

Zoe Middleton

Ava Molina

Suki Pfister

Hannah Ruthberg

Alauna Simms

Grace Sumner

Ashley Szymanski