A Letter from Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell: Celebration and Building

Cardinals Fans,

As I pen this end-of-the-school-year note to our alumni, friends and fans, we have a single student-athlete that is competing next week in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. We are thrilled to cheer for Kenli Nettles who represents Ball State in the heptathlon championship field in Eugene, Oregon, marking the third straight year the Cardinals have placed a student-athlete in the finals.

Our past year has produced success on and off the field of play, and we are literally building toward a better and brighter future as we continue construction on the Eric Foss Championship Performance Center and complete re-surfacing projects at four different venues this summer – baseball, basketball, football and softball.

Even as this year concludes, I can't help but look ahead to our fall lineup, particularly with new coaches Mike Uremovich and Andy Stoots leading our football and soccer programs. Game times were announced last week for our first several football games, and I am eager for the Muncie community to support Coach U and the Cardinals when they host a home opener against New Hampshire on Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. Please buy your season tickets HERE.

Before we get too deep into fall planning, now is a great time to celebrate our terrific success in 2024-25! Performances by four sports programs highlighted Cardinal excellence by finishing among the top three teams in final conference standings.

Ball State's women's basketball team completed a historic season by reaching the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history. Ball State reached the NCAA Tournament field of 64 after winning both the MAC regular season and tournament. Along the way, the Cardinals swept every major MAC postseason award while recording a 27-8 record – 16-2 in the MAC – and boasting the league's coach of the year (Brady Sallee), player of the year (Ally Becki) and defensive player of the year (Marie Kiefer).

Finishing second in the MAC was the men's golf team, earning a top-two finish in the league for the third consecutive season. It was the first time since 1978-80 that the Cardinals finished in the top two for three straight years.

A third-place MAC finish was earned by the women's volleyball team that finished 22-10 overall and was the No. 3 seed in the MAC Tournament, and just two weeks ago, the baseball Cardinals entered the MAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, too. Rich Maloney guided his club to at least 30 wins for the 19th straight season (36-22) and he personally earned the 1,000th win of his 30-year career in early March.

The softball program finished right behind baseball in diamond action. Coming off an appearance in the 2024 MAC championship game, Helen Pena's Cardinals finished with a 33-18 record and fourth-place MAC finish. Catcher McKayla Timmons was named both the MAC Player of the Year and the inaugural recipient of MAC Defensive Player of the Year.

Those weren't all of Ball State's top performances, and so many individual efforts deserve recognition. Please browse our 2024-25 Year in Review to appreciate all our great achievements in competition last year.

Off the field, as has become the norm of late, Ball State's athletic successes were eclipsed only by academic excellence in the classroom.

Ball State Athletics matched department records last year for both the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR) and Graduation Success Rate (GSR). And for the first time, all 19 sports registered a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better in both the fall 2024 and spring 2025 semesters. The 2024-25 full year student-athlete cumulative GPA was 3.46.

As we celebrate our successes, we realize that we can't keep earning reward without preparing the path to a successful future.

The Eric Foss Championship Performance Center (CPC) is an $8 million venture that ensures an open, dedicated and expanded strength-and-speed workout facility that has been sorely needed. Student-athletes in 18 out of 19 sports will chart their success with a larger, modern venue that allows for more functional training with enhanced opportunity for both growth and recovery.

What's more, by moving those strength-and-conditioning efforts outside the basement of Worthen Arena, our vision calls for an update inside Worthen, too. That space will undergo future renovation to expand our sports medicine space and to better address the health and wellness needs of our student-athletes.

The CPC project continues our recent trend with $3.2 million worth of improvements in 2023-24 and approximately $4 million worth of upgrades and assets in 2024-25.

University and community benefactors have helped us complete numerous recent enhancements including the installation of a new outdoor track surface, the installation of a new Taraflex flooring system for men's and women's volleyball and the re-surfacing projects I previously mentioned for football, basketball, baseball and softball. Also new is the installation of new video scorers tables in Worthen Arena.

Last winter, the University also purchased the former Northwest YMCA complex for the benefit of our men's and women's tennis programs. In addition, we installed new camera systems at our softball and baseball stadiums to assist with broadcast and instant replay, and we installed new chairback seating at the baseball stadium.

Lastly, we have entered the design phase for our newest initiative – an $8.8 million softball and baseball clubhouse project which is funded through private philanthropy and university reserves.

We are proud of our achievements. We know that future championships are attained only by planning, efficiency, consistency and upgrading our assets to aid in the development of future student-athletes.

As we continue to advance, and as we plan to adjust to a new era in intercollegiate athletics in the season ahead, please help me congratulate our talented student-athletes and our dedicated coaches and staff for their efforts over the past 12 months. They, and their records, are worthy of our appreciation and applause!

Chirp! Chirp!

Jeff

JEFF MITCHELL
Director of Athletics
Ball State University

A Letter from Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell: Celebration and Building

Players Mentioned

Ally Becki

Marie Kiefer

Kenli Nettles

McKayla Timmons

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