Ball State University
Denver
Gymnastics Travels to Denver for Black Out Quad Meet
February 14, 2025 | Gymnastics
| Ball State Gymnastics (10-3; 2-1 MAC) at Denver Black Out Quad Meet | |
| Meet 7 - at Denver w/ Oregon State & Texas Women's |
Sunday, Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. MT Live Results  |  Midco Sports Plus |
| Tickets Info | Purchase Tickets Here |
| Notes | Ball State |  Denver  |  Oregon State  | Texas Women's |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics team opens the second half of the regular season Sunday when it travels to the Denver, Colorado, for the Black Out Quad Meet ... In addition to the Cardinals and host Denver, Oregon State and Texas Women's will be competing in the four-team event which starts at 4 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. MT at Magness Arena.
» UPCOMING HOME MEET PROMOTIONS:
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.
» IN THE RANKINGS:
  - Ball State enters the Black Out Quad Meet ranked 32nd in the nation with an average team score of 195.129 according to RoadToNationals.com ... The Cardinals' best event is floor, with the squad ranking 26th in the nation with an average score of 48.996
  - Denver enters the weekend ranked 21st in the nation with an average team score of 195.967 ... The Pioneers are currently ninth in the nation on bars (49.221) and 13th on vault (49.121).
  - Oregon State enters the weekend ranked 10th in the nation with an average team score of 196.785 ... The Beavers rank third in the nation on beam (49.330) and seventh on floor (49.315).
 - Texas Women's enters the day ranked 49th nationally with an average team score of 194.100 ... Prior to Sunday's meet, the Pioneers host the Metroplex Challenge on Valentine's Day ... TWU's best event is currently vault, which it ranks 36th nationally with an average mark of 48.736.
» SEASON BEST MARK: Ball State turned in a season-best score of 195.575 last time out in a league dual versus Central Michigan ... The Cardinals once again shined on floor, earning a team score of 49.100, while also setting season-best with a 48.875 on beam ... BSU's student-athletes earned nine scores of 9.800-or-higher, led by a 9.900 on floor from junior Zoe Middleton.Â
» 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 49.100 last Sunday versus Central Michigan (Feb. 9), a 49.050 at Bowling Green (Feb. 2) and a 49.025 at the Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17) hosted by Eastern Michigan and the Cardinals currently rank first in the Mid-American Conference and 26th nationally with an average floor score of 48.996 through the first six meets of the season ... Junior Zoe Middleton is one of three gymnasts in the league with a 9.900-or-better on floor, hitting the 9.900 mark three times so far this season ... Middleton's 9.885 average is currently first in the league and 25th nationally.
» MIDDLETON IS 21-FOR-23: Junior Zoe Middleton has seen 21 of her 23 total routines count in the final team score so far this season, paced by her three 9.900s on floor ... Over her collegiate career, Middleton has seen 107 of her 114 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.
» 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 has tallied four scores of 9.875 so far this year and has won the bars competition in three of the team's last four meets ... She was also named the MAC Specialist of the Week after her performance in the Ball State Tri (Jan. 26).
» 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 bars win at Bowling Green (Feb. 2), Szymanski has won the bars competition in nine of her 20 collegiate meets 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).
» PFISTER VAULTING TO THE TOP: It did not take long for graduate student Suki Pfister to find her form once again on vault, producing Ball State's best vault of the season to date with a 9.875 in last Sunday's dual versus Central Michigan ... In fact, the score was the best by a MAC athlete on vault so far this season and is one of only 225 vaults nationally to score at least a 9.875 ... Overall, there have been 3,221 vaults scored nationally according to RoadToNationals.com.
» 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 made her 2025 debut with a 9.725 on vault at Bowling Green (Feb. 2) ... 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 ... She has turned in scores of 9.900-or-higher on 18 of her 47 collegiate vaults, including one 10.0, one 9.975, four 9.950s, three 9.925s and nine 9.900s.
» MOLINA MAKING NOISE: Sophomore Ava Molina has made a big impact for the Cardinals so far this season, ranking second on the squad on beam (9.737), third on bars (9.717) and fifth on floor (9.771) ... She scored a career-high 9.825 on floor at the EMU Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17) and has posted a career-high 9.775 on beam twice this season ... She also scored a season-best 9.800 on bars at EMU ... Overall, Molina has scored 9.725-or-higher in 15 of her 18 competitive routines this season, including each of her last 14.
» FULLER SHINES IN HER 2025 DEBUT: Sophomore Lindsay Fuller turned in Ball State's best beam routine so far this season with her career-best 9.875 at the Ball State Tri (Jan. 26) ... It is the second-best beam score in the MAC so far this season ... She also earned a 9.800 at the Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17).
» NEW FACES SHINE: Ball State has seen seven student-athletes break into the competitive lineup during the first three meets of the season.
  - Junior Alauna Simms has competed on floor in all six meets and was named the team's MVP at the Ball State Quad (Jan. 12) after posting a career-best 9.825 ... She currently ranks 14th in the MAC with a 9.775 floor average.
  - Senior Cai Afalla turned in a pair of countable scores in her debut in the lineup at Missouri (Jan. 3), earning a career best 9.775 on floor and a 9.725 on vault ... She has competed in both events in all six meets and turned in a career-best 9.775 on vault at BGSU (Feb. 2).
 - Junior Mary Rose Bellan has shined on bars so far this season, competing in all six meets and earning scores of 9.850 at Missouri (Jan. 3) and at EMU's Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17).
 - Sophomore Delaney McMahon made her competitive debut on beam at Missouri (Jan. 3), tying for BSU's second-best score with a 9.775 ... She has competed on beam in all six meets for the Cardinals and earned a career-best score of 9.825 at the Ball State Tri (Jan. 26) and versus Central Michigan (Feb. 9).
 - Sophomore Lindsay Girard made her competitive debut on both floor (9.550) and vault (9.625) at Missouri (Jan. 3) ... She has vaulted in all six meets and competed on floor four times, earning career-best scores of 9.825 on vault and 9.800 on floor.
 - Freshman Karli Mercer made her collegiate debut with a career-best 9.725 on vault at Missouri (Jan. 3) ... She has competed in all six meets and added three scores of 9.700.
 - Freshman Jordanna Phillis was the latest Ball State gymnast to make her collegiate debut, competing on both bars (9.775) and vault (9.625) at EMU's Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17) ... Of her six competitive routines this season, five have counted in the final team score.
» MORE VETERAN LEADERSHIP: Seniors Carissa Martinez and Grace Sumner are starting to hit their strides ... Martinez tied her career-best with a 9.825 on vault at Bowling Green (Feb. 2), while also earning a season-best 9.825 on floor ... Sumner owns four scores of 9.800-or-higher this season, with a season-best 9.850 on bars at Missouri (Jan. 3) and a pair of 9.800s on beam, most recently at BGSU.
» THE RUTHBERG FACTOR: Hannah Ruthberg has been a staple in the Ball State lineup over her career, including competing all-around in 41 of the 52 collegiate meets she has participated in ... She also owns four of the top 20 all-around scores in program history ... Despite missing the last three meets, Ruthberg still ranks fifth in the MAC this season with a 38.858 all-around average and was named the MAC Gymnast of the Week after her performance at Missouri (March 3) ... Her best all-around 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 in 2024, including a 9.925 on floor, a pair of 9.925s on bars, a 9.900 on beam and a 9.875 on vault.
» SCORING HIGH IN 2025: So far this season, the Cardinals have produced 46 scores of 9.800-or-better ... Of the total, 15 have come on floor, 13 on bars, 10 on beam and eight 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 39 best team scores in program history … In fact, of Ball State's 43 scores of 195.450-or-higher, 41 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 31 of 38 scores on bars, 28 of 34 scores on floor and 28 of 33 scores on beam.
Players Mentioned
