Ball State University
Eastern Michigan
Gymnastics Closes Regular Season Friday at Eastern Michigan
March 13, 2025 | Gymnastics
| Ball State Gymnastics (12-7; 3-2 MAC) at Eastern Michigan (5-8; 1-4 MAC) | |
| Meet 11 - at Eastern Michigan | Friday, March 14 at 6 p.m. ET Live Results  |  ESPN+ |
| Tickets Info | FREE ADMISSION |
| Notes | Ball State |  Eastern Michigan |
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics team closes the 2025 regular season Friday when it travels to Eastern Michigan for a 6 p.m. Mid-American Conference dual meet at the Gervin GameAbove Center.
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» IN THE RANKINGS:
- In the fourth week of National Qualifying Scores (NQS), the Cardinals rank second in the Mid-American Conference and 40th nationally with an NQS of 195.455 ... Ball State currently ranks 32nd nationally on both bars (49.055) and floor (49.100), with both events also ranking second in the league.
- Eastern Michigan is currently 52nd nationally with a NQS of 194.670, led by the nation's 39th-best beam group which owns a 48.910 NQS to lead all MAC programs ... The Eagles are also 50th nationally on bars (48.665).
-Â What is NQS:Â 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).
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» SEASON BEST MARK: Ball State turned in a season-best score of 196.900 in its league victory over Northern Illinois (March 2) ... Not only is it the best team score in the MAC so far this season, but it also tied as the third-best score in program history ... Overall, the Cardinals earned 19 total scores of 9.800-or-higher in the win, including six of at least 9.900 ... Junior Zoe Middleton posted three of the 9.000s on her way to the fourth-best all-around total in program history at 39.500, while sophomore Delaney McMahon tied the program record on beam with her 9.925.
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» TYING THE PROGRAM'S BEAM MARK: Led by Delaney McMahon's program-record tying 9.925, the Cardinals tied the program's all-time team beam record with a score of 49.350 versus Northern Illinois (March 2) ... The effort also included a 9.900 from Zoe Middleton, 9.850s from both sophomore Lindsay Fuller and senior Grace Sumner, and a 9.825 from sophomore Ashley Szymanski ... Ball State originally set the mark Jan. 20, 2023, at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic ... One familiar face in both lineups was Sumner who earned a 9.875 in the first record-setting effort.
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» BARS LEADING THE WAY: After earning a season-best team score of 49.175 on bars last Northern Illinois (March 2) and a third 49.050 last Sunday at Kent State, the Cardinals currently rank 32nd nationally and second in the MAC with a bars NQS of 49.055 ... It is currently the second-best event NQS for the Cardinals this season, just behind the team's floor NQS of 49.100 ... Highlighting the effort versus Northern Illinois was sophomore Ashley Szymanski who turned in a season-high 9.900 to win the event.
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» 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 44th nationally with a bars NQS of 9.875 ... 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 five bars wins this season, Szymanski has won the bars competition in 11 of her 24 collegiate meets and turned in eight routines of 9.900-or-higher ... Her career-best score was a 9.975 in her MAC debut versus Bowling Green (Jan. 22, 2024).
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» BACK TO THE FLOOR: Ball State also turned in a season-best floor score of 49.225 in the win over Northern Illinois (March 2), led by 9.000s from both juniors Alauna Simms and Zoe Middleton ... It was a career-best floor score for Simms, while it was Middleton's fourth 9.900 on floor this season ... Thanks in part to those efforts, Middleton currently ranks first in the MAC with a floor NQS of 9.890, while Simms is 13th at 9.810.
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» MIDDLETON IS 34-FOR-39: Junior Zoe Middleton has seen 34 of her 39 total routines count in the final team score so far this season, led by her four 9.900s on floor ... Over her collegiate career, Middleton has seen 120 of her 130 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 11 team scores in program history, along with 19 of the top 21.
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» TWO OF THE BEST ON VAULT: With her 9.925 on vault last Sunday at Kent State, graduate student Suki Pfister tied the top vault by a MAC student-athlete so far this season ... Throw in a 9.900 by Zoe Middleton versus Northern Illinois (March 2) and the Cardinals own two of the league's top four individual vaults this season ... In fact, only 272 of the 5686 vaults across the nation this season have scored at least a 9.900.
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» 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) ... After turning in a season-best 9.925 in her sixth meet last Sunday at Kent State, Pfister owns a NQS of 9.795 which ties for fifth in the league ... 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 19 of her 52 collegiate vaults, including one 10.0, one 9.975, four 9.950s, four 9.925s and nine 9.900s.
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» MOLINA MAKING NOISE: Sophomore Ava Molina has made a big impact for the Cardinals so far this season, scoring 9.725-or-higher in 19 of her 30 competitive routines ... She scored a career-high 9.825 on floor at the EMU Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17) and a career-best 9.825 on beam last Sunday at Kent State ... She also scored a season-best 9.800 on bars at EMU.
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» 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 10 meets and was named the team's MVP at the Ball State Quad (Jan. 12) after posting a 9.825 ... She earned a career-best floor score of 9.900 in the win versus Northern Illinois (March 2) ... She currently ranks 13th in the MAC with a 9.810 floor NQS.
   - Senior Cai Afalla turned in a pair of countable scores in her debut in the lineup at Missouri (Jan. 3), earning a 9.775 on floor and a 9.725 on vault ... She has competed in both events in all 10 meets and turned in a career-best 9.875 on floor versus Kent State (March 9) and a 9.800 on vault versus NIU (March 2).
   - Junior Mary Rose Bellan has shined on bars so far this season, competing in all 10 meets and earning scores of 9.850 at Missouri (Jan. 3, at EMU's Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17), versus Northern Illinois (March 2) and at Kent State (March 9) ... She currently ranks eighth in the MAC with a bars NQS of 9.810.
   - 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 nine meets for the Cardinals and tied the program record with a 9.925 versus Northern Illinois (March 2) ... She currently ranks 13th in the MAC with a 9.775 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 10 meets and competed on floor eight times, earning career-best scores of 9.825 in both events.
   - Freshman Karli Mercer made her collegiate debut with a 9.725 on vault at Missouri (Jan. 3) ... She has competed in all 10 meets and earned a career-best 9.825 versus Northern Illinois (March 2) ... She also made her beam debut with a 9.725 at Towson (Feb. 21).
   - 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 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.
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» 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 9.875 on floor versus Northern Illinois (March 2) ... Sumner owns eight scores of 9.800-or-higher this season, including a season-best 9.850 on bars twice and a season-high 9.850 on beam versus the Huskies.
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» 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 55 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 89 scores of 9.800-or-better ... Of the total, 26 have come on floor, 24 on bars, 21 on beam and 18 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.
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» RECORDS UNDER SALEEM:
- In the program's first 12 seasons under head coach Joanna Saleem, Ball State has tallied the 40 best team scores in program history … In fact, of Ball State's 45 scores of 195.450-or-higher, 43 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 48 team entries in the vault record book are held by Saleem's teams, as are 34 of 41 scores on bars, 29 of 35 scores on floor and 29 of 34 scores on beam.
Players Mentioned
