Gymnastics Heads To Kent State for Sunday #MACtion

Ball State Gymnastics (12-5; 3-1 MAC) at Kent State (10-2; 5-0 MAC)
Meet 10 - at Kent State	Sunday, March 9 at 1 p.m. ET Live Results \| BoxCast
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Notes	Ball State \| Kent State
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: With two regular season meets left before the Mid-American Conference Championships, the Ball State gymnastics squad returns to action Sunday for a 1 p.m. dual at Kent State ... Action is set to begin at 1 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center.

» IN THE RANKINGS:
- As we enter the third week of National Qualifying Scores (NQS), the Cardinals rank third in the Mid-American Conference and 40th nationally with an NQS of 195.270 ... Ball State currently ranks 32nd nationally on bars (49.030) and 40th on floor (49.010).
- Kent State, which has locked up at least a share of the 2025 MAC Regular Season Championship,  is currently 39th nationally with a NQS of 195.285, led by the nation's 38th-best bars group which owns a 48.855 NQS ... The Golden Flashes are also 42nd nationally on beam (48.805).
- 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 196.900 in last Sunday's league victory over Northern Illinois ... Not only was 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.

» 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 last Sunday versus Northern Illinois ... 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.

» BARS LEADING THE WAY: After earning a season-best team score of 49.175 on bars last Sunday vs. Northern Illinois, the Cardinals now rank 32nd nationally and second in the MAC with a bars NQS of 49.030 ... It is currently the top event for the Cardinals this season, just ahead of the team's floor NQS of 49.010 ... Highlighting the effort last Sunday was sophomore Ashley Szymanski who turned in a season-high 9.900 to win the event.

» 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 39th 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 four bars wins this season, Szymanski has won the bars competition in 10 of her 23 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).

» BACK TO THE FLOOR: Ball State also turned in a season-best floor score of 49.225 in last Sunday's win over NIU, 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 to the effort, Middleton currently ranks second in the MAC with a floor NQS of 9.850, while Simms jumped to 11th at 9.800.

» MIDDLETON IS 30-FOR-35: Junior Zoe Middleton has seen 30 of her 35 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 116 of her 126 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.

» MIDDLETON VAULTING TO THE TOP TOO: Along with her 9.900s on beam and floor last Sunday versus NIU, Zoe Middleton started the meet with a 9.900 on vault ... She is one of only three gymnasts in the MAC so far this season to record a vault of 9.900-or-better ... In fact, only 237 of the 5047 vaults across the nation this season have scored at least a 9.900.

» 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) ... She followed with a season high score of 9.875 versus Central Michigan (Feb. 9) and is one vault shy of earning an NQS score this season ... 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, scoring 9.725-or-higher in 16 of her 27 competitive routines ... 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.

» 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 nine meets and was named the team's MVP at the Ball State Quad (Jan. 12) after posting a season-best 9.825 ... She most recently tied for the floor win versus Northern Illinois with a career-best 9.900 ... She currently ranks 11th in the MAC with a 9.800 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 nine meets and turned in a career-best 9.800 on vault versus NIU (March 2).
  - Junior Mary Rose Bellan has shined on bars so far this season, competing in all nine meets and earning scores of 9.850 at Missouri (Jan. 3, at EMU's Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17) and versus Northern Illinois (March 2) ... She currently ranks 12th in the MAC with a bars NQS of 9.790.
    - 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 eight meets for the Cardinals and most recently tied the program record with a 9.925 versus Northern Illinois ... She currently ranks 10th 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 nine meets and competed on floor seven 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 nine meets earned a career-best 9.825 last time out 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.

» 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.

» 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 54 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 74 scores of 9.800-or-better ... Of the total, 21 have come on bars, 20 on floor, 18 on beam and 15 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 40 best team scores in program history … In fact, of Ball State's 44 scores of 195.450-or-higher, 42 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 47 team entries in the vault record book are held by Saleem's teams, as are 33 of 40 scores on bars, 29 of 35 scores on floor and 29 of 34 scores on beam.

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