Friday, January 3
Columbia, MO
7 p.m.
Ball State University
194.925
at
196.700
Missouri
Gymnastics Opens Season with Solid Effort at Beauty and the Beast
January 03, 2025 | Gymnastics
COLUMBIA, MO - - The Ball State gymnastics team tied its best-ever opening meet score with a 194.925 Friday night to start the 2025 season with a second-place finish on Beauty and the Beast night at Mizzou Arena.
Host Missouri won the meet with a score of 196.700, while the Cardinals (2-1) earned head-to-head victories over both Illinois State (194.775) and Southeast Missouri (190.475).
"It was a solid start to the season," head coach Joanna Saleem said. "With it being Beauty and the Beast, the gym was loud, and the crowd was awesome. Being able to get started in front of a crowd like this is something we can learn from. Overall, we did some solid gymnastics. We have some areas we know we can improve upon, but I didn't see anything too crazy. We set the goal of coming out and doing solid, confident gymnastics and I am proud of the way we came out and got after it."
Leading the way was graduate student Hannah Ruthberg, who opened her fifth season with the squad by placing second in the all-around at 39.075. Ruthberg would lead the Cardinals on beam (9.800), floor (9.775) and vault (9.750). She also scored a 9.750 on bars.
Ball State's biggest score of the night came from the team's final competitor, with sophomore Ashley Szymanski picking up right where she left off on bars, scoring a 9.875. Szymanski was the 2024 MAC Freshman of the Year and at MAC bars co-champion, while also tying for seventh in the second round of the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional.
While Ball State received some solid performances from its veteran crew, six different student-athletes also made their debuts in the competitive lineup for the Cardinals Friday.
"We were able to see a lot of new faces in the lineup tonight, who really haven't had the chance to compete much," Saleem added. "They were able to step up today and provide some consistency. Seeing all of them settle in and do the gymnastics in the lineup spot is exciting. It's fun to see the new faces and the depth of the team starting to show itself."
Below is a summary of tonight's action.
ROTATION 1: Beam (48.625)
- Sophomore Ava Molina made her collegiate beam debut, opening the season for Ball State with a score of 9.650
- Graduate student Hannah Ruthberg started her fifth and final season with a team-high 9.800.
- In her first career performance, sophomore Delaney McMahon tied for second on the squad with a score of 9.775
- Rounding out Ball State's countable scores were a 9.775 from sophomore Ashley Szymanski and a 9.625 from junior Zoe Middleton.
ROTATION2: Floor (48.725)
- In her first career appearance in the competitive lineup, senior Cai Afalla tied for the team lead on floor with a score of 9.775.
- The other 9.775 came from graduate student Hannah Ruthberg to round out BSU's floor competitors.
- Junior Alauna Simms and sophomore Lindsay Girard also made their competitive debuts on floor, scoring 9.700 and 9.550, respectively.
- The Cardinals also counted a 9.750 from senior Carissa Martinez and a 9.725 from sophomore Ava Molina.
ROTATION 3: Vault (48.525)
- The third rotation saw graduate student Hannah Ruthberg once again throw up Ball State's top score, finishing the vault rotation with a 9.750.
- Freshman Karli Mercer scored a 9.725 in her collegiate debut, tying senior Cai Afalla who also scored 9.725 in her first vault in the competitive lineup.
- BSU also counted a 9.700 from junior Zoe Middleton and a 9.625 from sophomore Lindsey Girard's first career vault.
ROTATION 4: Bars (49.050)
- Ball State saved its best for the final rotation, however, with its 49.050 on bars tying as the 24th-best bars score in program history.
- Leading the way was sophomore Ashley Szymanski with the Cardinals' top individual score of the meet at 9.875.
- BSU received 9.850s from both senior Grace Sumner and junior Mary Rose Bellan in her competitive lineup debut.
- Rounding out Ball State's countable scores were a 9.750 from graduate student Hannah Ruthberg and a 9.725 from junior Zoe Middleton.
ALL-AROUND:
- Graduate student Hannah Ruthberg was Ball State's lone all-around competitor, placing second overall with a 39.075 … The effort included a 9.800 on beam, a 9.775 on floor and 9.750s on both vault and bars.
UP NEXT:
The Ball State gymnastics team opens the home portion of its 2025 campaign next Sunday (Jan. 12) when it hosts Illinois, SEMO and Wisconsin-Eau Claire for the Ball State Quad. Action is set to begin at 1 p.m. in Worthen Arena.
Fans can purchase season tickets to see the Cardinals in all four home meets during the 2025 season for just $32 for adults and $16 for youth (3-18) at BallStateSports.com/GymTickets
Host Missouri won the meet with a score of 196.700, while the Cardinals (2-1) earned head-to-head victories over both Illinois State (194.775) and Southeast Missouri (190.475).
"It was a solid start to the season," head coach Joanna Saleem said. "With it being Beauty and the Beast, the gym was loud, and the crowd was awesome. Being able to get started in front of a crowd like this is something we can learn from. Overall, we did some solid gymnastics. We have some areas we know we can improve upon, but I didn't see anything too crazy. We set the goal of coming out and doing solid, confident gymnastics and I am proud of the way we came out and got after it."
Leading the way was graduate student Hannah Ruthberg, who opened her fifth season with the squad by placing second in the all-around at 39.075. Ruthberg would lead the Cardinals on beam (9.800), floor (9.775) and vault (9.750). She also scored a 9.750 on bars.
Ball State's biggest score of the night came from the team's final competitor, with sophomore Ashley Szymanski picking up right where she left off on bars, scoring a 9.875. Szymanski was the 2024 MAC Freshman of the Year and at MAC bars co-champion, while also tying for seventh in the second round of the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional.
While Ball State received some solid performances from its veteran crew, six different student-athletes also made their debuts in the competitive lineup for the Cardinals Friday.
"We were able to see a lot of new faces in the lineup tonight, who really haven't had the chance to compete much," Saleem added. "They were able to step up today and provide some consistency. Seeing all of them settle in and do the gymnastics in the lineup spot is exciting. It's fun to see the new faces and the depth of the team starting to show itself."
Below is a summary of tonight's action.
ROTATION 1: Beam (48.625)
- Sophomore Ava Molina made her collegiate beam debut, opening the season for Ball State with a score of 9.650
- Graduate student Hannah Ruthberg started her fifth and final season with a team-high 9.800.
- In her first career performance, sophomore Delaney McMahon tied for second on the squad with a score of 9.775
- Rounding out Ball State's countable scores were a 9.775 from sophomore Ashley Szymanski and a 9.625 from junior Zoe Middleton.
ROTATION2: Floor (48.725)
- In her first career appearance in the competitive lineup, senior Cai Afalla tied for the team lead on floor with a score of 9.775.
- The other 9.775 came from graduate student Hannah Ruthberg to round out BSU's floor competitors.
- Junior Alauna Simms and sophomore Lindsay Girard also made their competitive debuts on floor, scoring 9.700 and 9.550, respectively.
- The Cardinals also counted a 9.750 from senior Carissa Martinez and a 9.725 from sophomore Ava Molina.
ROTATION 3: Vault (48.525)
- The third rotation saw graduate student Hannah Ruthberg once again throw up Ball State's top score, finishing the vault rotation with a 9.750.
- Freshman Karli Mercer scored a 9.725 in her collegiate debut, tying senior Cai Afalla who also scored 9.725 in her first vault in the competitive lineup.
- BSU also counted a 9.700 from junior Zoe Middleton and a 9.625 from sophomore Lindsey Girard's first career vault.
ROTATION 4: Bars (49.050)
- Ball State saved its best for the final rotation, however, with its 49.050 on bars tying as the 24th-best bars score in program history.
- Leading the way was sophomore Ashley Szymanski with the Cardinals' top individual score of the meet at 9.875.
- BSU received 9.850s from both senior Grace Sumner and junior Mary Rose Bellan in her competitive lineup debut.
- Rounding out Ball State's countable scores were a 9.750 from graduate student Hannah Ruthberg and a 9.725 from junior Zoe Middleton.
ALL-AROUND:
- Graduate student Hannah Ruthberg was Ball State's lone all-around competitor, placing second overall with a 39.075 … The effort included a 9.800 on beam, a 9.775 on floor and 9.750s on both vault and bars.
UP NEXT:
The Ball State gymnastics team opens the home portion of its 2025 campaign next Sunday (Jan. 12) when it hosts Illinois, SEMO and Wisconsin-Eau Claire for the Ball State Quad. Action is set to begin at 1 p.m. in Worthen Arena.
Fans can purchase season tickets to see the Cardinals in all four home meets during the 2025 season for just $32 for adults and $16 for youth (3-18) at BallStateSports.com/GymTickets
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