Ball State University
Northern Illinois
Gymnastics To Celebrate Seniors Sunday vs. NIU
February 28, 2025 | Gymnastics
| Ball State Gymnastics (11-5; 2-1 MAC) hosts Northern Illinois (4-10; 1-2 MAC) | |
| Meet 9 - hosts Northern Illinois | Sunday, March 2 at 1 p.m. ET Live Results  | ESPN+ |
| Tickets Info | Purchase Tickets Here |
| Notes | Ball State | Northern Illinois |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics team closes the home portion of the 2025 season Sunday when it welcomes Northern Illinois to Worthen Arena for a 1 p.m. league dual.
» SUNDAY'S PROMOTIONS:
   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 with FREE ADMISSION when they present their badge / ID at the ticket window.
   Movie Day: Following the Senior Day festivities, fans are encouraged to stick around and enjoy a FREE showing of Inside Out 2 on the Worthen Arena video boards ... During the movie, fans will receive $1 off all their popcorn and soda purchases.
» IN THE RANKINGS:
- As we enter the second week of National Qualifying Scores (NQS), the Cardinals rank second in the Mid-American Conference and 38th nationally with an NQS of 195.140 ... Ball State currently ranks 32nd nationally on bars (48.945) and 41st on floor (48.965).
- Northern Illinois is currently 56th nationally with a NQS of 193.300, led by the nation's 40th-best vault group which owns a 49.075 NQS ... The Huskies as also 55th nationally on floor (48.745).
- What is NQS: Qualification for regional competition is based on a team's and an all-around competitor's six best regular-season-meet scores, of which three must be away. To obtain the national qualifying score (NQS), the high score is eliminated, and the remaining five scores are averaged ... The top 36 teams in the NQS rankings earn NCAA Regional berths ... Teams 1-16 are seeded by the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Committee and the remaining teams are placed geographically at one of the four regional sites, with teams 29-36 battling in first-round duals ... Included in the championship field are also 12 all-around competitors and 64 individual event specialists (all of whom are not on a qualifying team).
» SEASON BEST MARK: Ball State turned in a season-best score of 195.575 in its league dual versus Central Michigan (Feb. 9) ... 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.
» 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 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 third in the Mid-American Conference and 41st nationally with a floor NQS of 48.965 through the first eight meets of the season ... Junior Zoe Middleton is one of five 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 9.840 NQS is currently second in the league and 101st nationally.
» MIDDLETON IS 26-FOR-31: Junior Zoe Middleton has seen 26 of her 31 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 112 of her 122 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 GOING STRONG TOO: Ball State closed the Denver Quad Meet (Feb. 16) with a season-high 49.100 on bars ... Sophomore Ashley Szymanski led the way, earning her fifth 9.875 of the season ... It was the best bars score in the MAC during that week of competition and helped her earn her second MAC Specialist of the Week honor this season ... Junior Zoe Middleton and senior Grace Sumner each added season-best scores of 9.850, while BSU also counted a 9.775 from junior Mary Rose Bellan and a 9.750 from freshman Jordanna Phillis.
» MORE ON SZYMANSKI: Ashley Szymanski, who was crowned a MAC Bars Champion after scoring a 9.925 in her league championships debut last season, enters the week ranked first in the MAC and 43rd nationally with a bars NQS of 9.860 ... That followed a 2024 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 three bars wins this season, Szymanski has won the bars competition in nine of her 22 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 versus Central Michigan (Feb. 9) ... In fact, the score ties as the third best by a MAC athlete on vault so far this season and is one of only 333 vaults nationally to score at least a 9.875 ... Overall, there have been 4480 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 (9.740 NQS), fourth on floor (9.760) and fifth on bars (9.720) ... 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 16 of her 24 competitive routines this season.
» 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 ties as 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 seven 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 11th in the MAC with a 9.790 floor NQS.
 - 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 eight 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 seven meets and earning scores of 9.850 at Missouri (Jan. 3) and at EMU's Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17) ... She currently ranks 12th in the MAC with a bars NQS of 9.765.
   - 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 seven meets for the Cardinals and earned a career-best score of 9.825 three times ... She currently ranks 15th in the MAC with a 9.720 beam NQS.
   - 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 eight meets and competed on floor six times, earning career-best scores of 9.825 on vault and 9.800 on floor.
   - Freshman Karli Mercer made her collegiate debut with a 9.725 on vault at Missouri (Jan. 3) ... She has competed in all eight meets and added three scores of 9.700, along with a career-best 9.750 at Denver (Feb. 16) ... She also made her beam debut with a 9.725 at Towson (Feb. 21).
   - Freshman Jordanna Phillis was the latest BSU gymnast to make her collegiate debut, competing on both bars (9.775) and vault (9.625) at EMU's Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17) ... She owns two 9.775s on bars and a career-best 9.675 on vault ... Of her eight competitive routines, seven 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 adding a season-best 9.850 on floor versus Central Michigan (Feb. 9) ... Sumner owns six scores of 9.800-or-higher this season, including a season-best 9.850 on bars twice and three 9.800s on beam.
» 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 53 collegiate meets she has participated in ... She also owns four of the top 20 all-around scores in program history ... After missing four meets in the middle of the season due to injury, Ruthberg returned to action with a vault score of 9.800 at Towson (Feb. 21) ... 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 55 scores of 9.800-or-better ... Of the total, 16 have come on bars, 16 on floor, 13 on beam and 10 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 32 of 39 scores on bars, 28 of 34 scores on floor and 28 of 33 scores on beam.
Players Mentioned
