Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Bowling Green
Gymnastics Hosts Bowling Green Sunday For K-Pop Demon Hunters Day
January 15, 2026 | Gymnastics
| Ball State Gymnastics (1-1; 0-0 MAC) hosts K-Pop Demon Hunters Day | |
| Meet 2 - hosts Bowling Green (0-1) | Sunday, Jan. 18 at 1 p.m. ET Live Results | ESPN+ |
| Tickets Info | Ticket Information |
| Notes | Ball State | Bowling Green |
| Social Media | Twitter | Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics team returns to action Sunday (Jan. 18) when it hosts Bowling Green for K-Pop Demon Hunters Day in Worthen Arena ... Action begins at 1 p.m. and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN+ for those unable to attend.
» MORE ABOUT K-POP DEMON HUNTERS DAY: The first 150 fans in attendance Sunday to help us takedown the Falcons will receive a free light stick ... HUNTR/X and Saja Boys fans will be delighted with K-Pop Demon Hunter themed music and elements throughout the day ... Post-meet autograph session.
» UPCOMING HOME PROMOTIONS:
Feb. 8 - Alumni & Sports Crossover Day - The Cardinals will celebrate alumni and other Ball State Athletics programs in attendance at the meet ... Crossover features produced with other teams will be shared throughout the meet ... Post-meet autograph session.
Feb. 15 - Senior & Life As A Gym Girl Day - Ball State will honor its four-member senior class at the conclusion of the competition ... Inspired by the music of Taylor Swift, the Cardinals will celebrate the strength of female athletes ... Post-meet autograph session.
BALL STATE NEWS AND NOTES:
» STARTING THE SEASON WITH A BANG: For just the second time in program history, the Cardinals turned in a pair of individual scores of 9.900-or-better in the first meet of the season last Sunday for Squishmallows Day in Worthen Arena ... Junior Ashley Szymanski was the first with her 9.900 on bars and senior Zoe Middleton followed with a 9.900 on beam ... Their effort gives the Cardinals six total scores of 9.900-or-better in a season-opening meet in program history ... The first was a 9.900 on beam by Jenna Tarkington on Jan. 11, 2024 at Illinois State ... Quiana Williams was the second with a 9.900 on beam Jan. 7, 2025 at Michigan State ... Ball State's gymnasts recorded two in a season-opener for the first time in program history Jan. 5, 2024 at the UNC Quad with Suki Pfister landing a 9.925 on vault for the best individual season-opening score in the Ball State record book, while Victoria Henry added a 9.900 on floor.
» THE SPECIALIST: Thanks to her 9.900 on beam last Sunday, which currently stands as the best beam score in the MAC this season and ranks 21st nationally, Zoe Middleton was named the MAC Specialist of the Week for the first time in her collegiate career ... The effort also gave Middleton her 22nd individual event win (12 on floor, four on bars, three on beam, three on vault), along with 11 career all-around victories ... A seven-time career MAC Gymnast of the Week, Middleton also earned a 9.825 on bars versus Rutgers and WMU, which currently ranks third in the league and 84th nationally.
» MORE ON MIDDLETON: A 2025 First Team All-MAC selection and 2024 Second Team All-MAC honoree, Zoe Middleton enters Sunday's meet versus Bowling Green having seen 124 of her 135 competitive routines count in Ball State's final team score over her illustrious career ... One of just four gymnasts in program history to register a perfect 10, she has recorded 21 career routines of 9.900-or-better ... She holds the program record in the all-around (39.750) and on bars (10.00), is tied for sixth on vault (9.950), tied for ninth on floor (9.925) and tied for ninth on beam (9.900) ... Middleton's solid gymnastics has helped the Cardinals register the top 11 team scores in program history, along with 19 of the top 21 over the past three seasons.
» SZYMANSKI DOES NOT MISS A BEAT: The two-time defending Mid-American Conference individual champion on bars, junior Ashley Szymanski did not miss a beat last Sunday, with her ninth career score of 9.900-or-better on the apparatus ... Her mark of 9.900 versus Rutgers and Western Michigan, which was her 13th collegiate bars victory in 28 meets, currently ranks second in the league and 18th nationally ... Szymanski scored a career-high 9.975 in her MAC debut Jan. 22, 2024, versus Bowling Green ... The 2025 MAC Specialist of the Year and 2024 MAC Freshman of the year also has one career 9.950, two career 9.925s and five career 9.900s on bars.
» SHE ALSO ROCKS THE BEAM: In addition to her solid effort on bars, Ashley Szymanski has been a staple in Ball State's beam lineup over her career, including her 9.800 last Sunday which currently ranks fifth in the league ... She owns a career-best 9.875 on beam, set in a fifth-place finish at the 2024 MAC Championships, and has scored at least 9.750-or-better in 20 of her 24 collegiate beam routines ... She claimed her first individual beam victory with a 9.850 last season versus Central Michigan (Feb. 9, 2025).
» A BIG DEBUT FOR STALDER: Freshman Carley Stalder shined in her first collegiate event last Sunday, winning the vault competition with a score of 9.850 ... The score currently stands as the second-best vault in the MAC this season and ranks 35th nationally ... In addition, Stalder became the first Ball State gymnast to win an individual event in a season-opening meet since the 2010 season when Nicole Allen tied for first on vault with a score of 9.700 in a Jan. 9 dual at Western Michigan ... In addition to her solid vault, Stalder earned a 9.750 on floor for the 10th-best floor score by a MAC gymnast so far this season.
» MOLINA MAKING NOISE: Junior Ava Molina turned in a pair of countable scores in last Sunday's Squishmallows day meet, including leading Ball State on floor with a career-best score of 9.875 ... The effort tied for second overall and followed a countable beam routine of 9.625 ... Molina has made a big impact for the Cardinals over her career, scoring 9.725-or-higher in 31 of her 45 competitive routines ... She also owns a career-best bars score of 9.900 which she set on her way to winning the event as a freshman at Eastern Michigan (March 17, 2024).
» FIRST-TIMER HIGHLIGHTS:
- There was a lot of new in the Ball State lineup for the 2026 season-opener as the Cardinals had several lineup spots to fill after last season ... Entering the season, only six gymnasts had competed on beam over the Ball State careers, while five had competed on bars and only four each on vault and floor.
- Sophomore Grace Suchecki turned in a pair of solid marks in her competitive debut for Ball State, earning a 9.800 on floor and a 9.725 on beam ... Both scores counted in the final team score, with her floor mark placing fifth and her vault score tying for sixth among the 18 competitors in each event.
- In her competitive debut, sophomore Viviana Campuzano turned in Ball State's fourth-best floor routine of the day, earning a 9.775.
- Senior Mary Rose Bellan made her collegiate vault debut, earning a 9.600 ... She also returned to the bars lineup, ranking third on the squad with a 9.750 ... Bellan owns a career-best bars score of 9.850, a mark she set four times last season.
- The program's co-record holder on beam at 9.925, junior Delaney McMahon made her collegiate debut on bars last Sunday, scoring a 9.650 which was fourth on the squad ... She followed with Ball State's second-best beam routine of the day at 9.850 ... It was her sixth career routine to score 9.750-or-higher.
» HITTING THE MARKS:
- Ball State scored 9.800-or-better in eight routines last Sunday, including two scores of 9.900 ... Three of the marks came on beam, two came on bars, two came on floor and one came on vault ... Last season, the Cardinals produced 101 scores of 9.800-or-better with 11 scores of at least 9.900.
» 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, 31 of 37 scores on floor and 29 of 34 scores on beam.
» WELCOME BACK BRITTNEY: A Ball State gymnastics legend returns to Worthen Arena Sunday, as Brittney Emmons enters her second season as head coach at Bowling Green ... A four-year letterwinner at Ball State from 2009-2013, Emmons was the 2013 MAC Senior Gymnast of the Year ... She was also a four-time NCAA Regional Qualifier for the Cardinals, competing on vault and floor as a freshman, while earning a spot in the all-around in each of her final three seasons ... She is currently tied for 36th in program history on floor (9.900) and 42nd in program history on vault (9.875), while tying for the 22nd-best all-around score at 39.300.
Players Mentioned
