Gymnastics Set For Squishmallows Day Sunday in Worthen

Ball State Gymnastics hosts Squishmallows Day
Meet 4 - hosts Ball State Tri with Western Michigan & Wilberforce	Sunday, Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. ET Live Results \| ESPN+
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Notes	Ball State \| Western Michigan \| Wilberforce
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics team returns to Worthen Arena Sunday when it hosts Western Michigan and Wilberforce for Squishmallows Day starting at 1 p.m. ... 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 throw out Squishmallows to fans throughout the day, including for each routine hitting 9.750-or-higher

» UPCOMING HOME MEET PROMOTIONS:
Feb. 9 vs. Central Michigan
    Superhero & Princess Day: Young fans are encouraged to come to the meet dressed as their favorite Superhero or Princess, with the theme playing out throughout the day
    Alumni Day: The Ball State gymnastics team will celebrate its alumni in attendance.

March 2 vs. Northern Illinois
    Senior Day: The Ball State gymnastics team will recognize its 2025 senior class following the conclusion of the meet.
    Hometown Hero Day: The Cardinals will celebrate all hometown heroes in attendance

» GET YOUR TICKETS NOW: Looking to join us in the gymnastics fun for the 2025 season, purchase your tickets now ... Single meet tickets are 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.

» FLOOR LEADING THE WAY FOR THE CARDINALS: Ball State's best rotation so far this season was its 39.150 on floor at the Ball State Quad (Jan. 12) ... Throw in a 49.025 at last Friday's Golden Girls Classic hosted by Eastern Michigan and the Cardinals currently rank first in the Mid-American Conference and 24th nationally with an average floor score of 48.967 through the first three meets of the season ... Junior Zoe Middleton is the only gymnast in the league with a 9.900-or-better on floor, hitting the 9.900 mark to win the event at the Ball State Quad ... Middleton's 9.887 average is currently first in the league and 24th nationally.

» 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 ... Szymanski tied the 9.875 mark last Friday to win the event at EMU's Golden Girls Classic and tie Middleton's floor performance for the highest scoring routines of the meet.

» 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 last Friday's win at EMU, Szymanski has won the bars competition in seven of the 17 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 29 meets ... In fact, Ruthberg has competed all-around in 40 of her 51 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 IS 10-FOR-11: Junior Zoe Middleton has gone 10-for-11 so far this season, with 10 of her 11 total 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 96 of her 102 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.

» MOLINA MAKING NOISE: Sophomore Ava Molina turned in a solid meet last Friday at the EMU Golden Girls Classic, including posting a career-high 9.825 on floor and tying her career-high score with a 9.775 on beam ... She also scored a solid 9.800 on bars and has scored 9.725-or-higher in six of her nine competitive routines so far this season.

» NEW FACES SHINE: Ball State has seen seven new student-athletes break into the competitive lineup during the first three meets of the season.
    - Junior Alauna Simms has competed on floor in all three meets this season and was named the team's MVP at the Ball State Quad after posting a career-best 9.825 ... She currently ranks 15th in the MAC with a 9.767 floor average.
    - 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 has competed in both events in all three meets this season.
    - Junior Mary Rose Bellan has shined on bars so far this season, competing in all three meets and earning scores of 9.850 at Missouri and at Eastern Michigan.
    - Sophomore Delaney McMahon made her competitive debut on beam at Missouri, tying for BSU's second-best score with a 9.775 ... She has competed on beam in all three meets for the Cardinals so far this season.
    - 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 ... She has vaulted in all three meets for BSU this season.
    - Freshman Karli Mercer made her collegiate debut with a career-best 9.725 on vault at Missouri ... She has competed in all three meets so far this season and is tied for third on the squad and 23rd in the MAC with an average score of 9.683.
    - Freshman Jordanna Phillis was the latest Ball State gymnast to make her collegiate debut, competing on both bars (9.775) and vault (9.625) last Friday at EMU ... Both routines were countable in the final team score.

» FULLER SHINES IN HER 2025 DEBUT: Sophomore Lindsay Fuller took third on beam in her 2025 debut at the EMU Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17), logging a career-best score of 9.800.

» 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 21 scores of 9.800-or-better, with a season-high nine coming at the Ball State Quad (Jan. 12) ... Of the 21, seven have come on both bars and floor, while four have come on beam and three 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 30 of 37 scores on bars, 28 of 34 scores on floor and 27 of 32 scores on beam.

Gymnastics Set For Squishmallows Day Sunday in Worthen

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Players Mentioned

Cai Afalla

Mary Rose Bellan

Lindsay Fuller

Lindsay Girard

Delaney McMahon

Karli Mercer

Zoe Middleton

Ava Molina

Suki Pfister

Jordanna Phillis

Hannah Ruthberg

Alauna Simms

Ashley Szymanski