Gymnastics Welcomes Central Michigan For Super Sunday

Ball State Gymnastics (10-2; 2-0 MAC) hosts Central Michigan (6-1; 1-0 MAC)
Meet 6 - hosts Central Michigan	Sunday, Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. ET Live Results \| ESPN+
Tickets Info	Purchase Tickets Here
Notes	Ball State \| Central Michigan
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics program returns to Worthen Arena Sunday for Superhero and Princess Day versus Central Michigan ... Action is set to start at 1 p.m. and the first 400 fans in attendance will receive a free T-shirt ... In addition to themed music thought the day, young fans are encouraged to dress up as their favorite superhero or princess ... Sunday will also serve as Alumni Day for the Ball State gymnastics program, with alumni in attendance being honored.

» 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.

» 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.

» SEASON BEST MARK: Ball State turned in a season-best 195.550 at the Ball State Tri (Jan. 26) and currently ranks first in the MAC and 36th nationally with an average score of 195.040 ... Central Michigan is the only league school with a higher score so far this season, led by its season-high 196.000 set Thursday versus SEMO and UW-Oshkosh.

» 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 49.050 last week 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 25th nationally with an average floor score of 48.975 through the first five 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 twice so far this season ... Middleton's 9.875 average is currently first in the league and 26th 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 has tallied three scores of 9.875 so far this year and has won the bars competition in each of BSU's last three 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 last Sunday's win at Bowling Green, Szymanski has won the bars competition in nine of her 19 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).

» 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 41 of the 52 collegiate meets she has participated in ... She also 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 13-FOR-15: Junior Zoe Middleton has gone 17-for-19 so far this season, with 17 of her 19 total routines counting in the final team score, paced by her two 9.900s on floor ... Over her collegiate career, Middleton has seen 103 of her 110 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.

» 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 and combined with her mark of 9.800 in her season debut at the Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17), has her ranked second in the league with an average score of 9.783.

» MOLINA MAKING NOISE: Sophomore Ava Molina turned in a solid meet at the EMU Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17), including a career-high 9.825 on floor and tying her career-high with a 9.775 on beam ... She also scored a solid 9.800 on bars ... Overall, Molina has scored 9.725-or-higher in 12 of her 15 competitive routines this season, including each of her last 11.

» 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 five 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 10th 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 five 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 five 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 five meets for the Cardinals and earned a career-best score of 9.825 at the Ball State Tri (Jan. 26).
    - 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 five meets and competed on floor three times, earning career-best scores of 9.825 on vault and 9.775 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 five meets and added two 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) ... She followed by scoring a 9.675 on vault and a 9.775 on bars at the Ball State Tri (Jan. 26), while adding a 9.625 on bars at BGSU (Feb. 2) ... All five of her marks have counted in the final team score.

» 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.

» MORE VETERAN LERDERSHIP: 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 last Sunday at BGSU.

» SCORING HIGH IN 2025: So far this season, the Cardinals have produced 37 scores of 9.800-or-better ... Of the total, 12 have come on floor, 11 on bars, and seven on both beam and 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 38 best team scores in program history … In fact, of Ball State's 42 scores of 195.450-or-higher, 40 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 27 of 32 scores on beam.

Gymnastics Welcomes Central Michigan For Super Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cai Afalla

Mary Rose Bellan

Lindsay Fuller

Lindsay Girard

Carissa Martinez

Delaney McMahon

Karli Mercer

Zoe Middleton

Ava Molina

Suki Pfister

Jordanna Phillis

Hannah Ruthberg

Alauna Simms

Grace Sumner

Ashley Szymanski