Gymnastics Opens Road Slate Saturday at Northern Illinois

Saturday, January 24

DeKalb, IL

3 p.m.

Ball State University

Northern Illinois

Gymnastics Opens Road Slate Saturday at Northern Illinois

January 22, 2026 | Gymnastics

Ball State Gymnastics (2-1; 1-0 MAC) at Northern Illinois
Meet 3 - at Northern Illinois (1-2; 0-2 MAC)	Saturday, Jan. 24 at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT Live Results \| ESPN+
Tickets Info	Free Admission
Notes	Ball State \| Northern Illinois
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics team faces its first road test of the season Saturday when it travels to Northern Illinois for a 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT league dual ... The contest will take place at the NIU Convocation Center and be broadcast live on ESPN+ for those unable to attend.

» A QUICK LOOK AT BALL STATE: The Ball State gymnastics team enters the weekend ranked 37th nationally with an average score of 194.750 ... The Cardinals earned a season-best 195.225 in last Sunday's dual versus Bowling Green in which it won all four individual events ... BSU currently leads the MAC and rank 25th nationally with an average bars score of 48.813.

» A QUICK LOOK AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Northern Illinois gymnastics team enters the weekend ranked 58th nationally with an average score of 192.438 ... NIU scored a season-best 193.200 at least Saturday's Golden Girls Classic hosted by Eastern Michigan ... The Huskies best event is floor, with the squad ranking 43rd nationally with an average score of 48.700.

» 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 when it hosted Rutgers and Western Michigan on Jan. 11 ... 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, 2004 at Illinois State ... Quiana Williams was the second with a 9.900 on beam Jan. 7, 2005 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.

» WEEKLY AWARDS:
- Zoe Middleton was named the MAC Specialist of the Week on Jan. 12 for her effort in Ball State's season-opener versus Rutgers and Western Michigan (Jan. 11) when she scored 9.900 on beam and 9.825 on bars ... It was her first career MAC Specialist of the Week honor, while she has earned seven MAC Gymnast of the Week honors over her career.
- Ashley Szymanski was named the MAC Specialist of the Week on Jan. 20 for her effort in the dual win over Bowling Green (Jan. 18) when she won both the bars (9.775) and the beam (9.875) competitions ... It was her third career MAC Specialist of the Week honor.

» MORE ON MIDDLETON:
- A 2025 First Team All-MAC selection and 2024 Second Team All-MAC honoree, Zoe Middleton enters Saturday's meet at Northern Illinois having seen 126 of her 137 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 also owns 22 individual event wins, with 12 on floor, four on bars, three on beam and three on vault
- Middleton 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.
- Middleton is the only gymnast in program history to score 9.900-or-better on all four individual apparatus ... Her 21 scores of 9.900-or-better are second in program history, trailing only Suki Pfister's 26 from 2022-2025.

» SZYMANSKI NOT MISSING A BEAT: The two-time defending Mid-American Conference individual champion on bars, junior Ashley Szymanski has won both bars competitions so far this season, starting with her ninth career score of 9.900-or-better on the apparatus on Jan. 11 ... She followed with a 9.775 in last Sunday's win over Bowling Green (Jan. 18), giving her 14 bars victories in 29 collegiate meets ... 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 winning the event in last Sunday's dual versus Bowling Green ... Her score of 9.875 tied her career-best and is the second-best score in the MAC this season, trailing only Zoe Middleton's 9.900 from opening weekend ... Szymanski has scored at least 9.750-or-better in 21 of her 25 collegiate beam routines and has won the event twice.

» MOLINA MAKING NOISE: Junior Ava Molina
became the third different Cardinals gymnast to score a 9.900 this season, winning the floor competition with the mark in last Sunday's league dual versus Bowling Green ... It was the second 9.900 of Molina's collegiate career, as she also earned a 9.900 to win the bars competition as a freshman at Eastern Michigan (March 17, 2024) ... Molina has made a big impact for the Cardinals over the past three seasons, scoring 9.725-or-higher in 32 of her 48 competitive routines.

» A BIG DEBUT FOR STALDER: Freshman Carley Stalder shined in her first collegiate event on Jan. 11, winning the vault competition with a score of 9.850 ... The score currently ties as the third-best vault in the MAC this season and as the 76th-highest 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 ... Stalder also owns career-best scores of 9.800 on floor and 9.675 on beam set in last Sunday's dual versus Bowling Green.

» FIRST-TIMER HIGHLIGHTS:
- There was a lot of new in the Ball State lineup for the first two meets of the 2026 season as the Cardinals had several lineup spots to fill after last season ... Entering the season, only six gymnasts had competed on beam over their Ball State careers, while five had competed on bars and only four each on vault and floor.
- Sophomore Grace Suchecki turned has turned in four countable scores of her first four collegiate routines, including career-highs of 9.800 on floor and 9.725 on vault.
- In her competitive debut on Jan. 11, 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 on Jan. 11, earning a 9.600 ... She followed with a career-high 9.650 last Sunday vs. BGSU ... She has also returned to the bars lineup and averages a 9.725 this season, including a 9.800 last weekend ... 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 on Jan. 11, 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 ... She added an 9.800 on beam last Sunday versus Bowling Green, giving her seven career routines of score 9.750-or-higher.

» FLOOR LEADS THE WAY VS. BGSU: Ball State's best rotation so far this season was its 49.050 on floor in last Sunday's win over Bowling Green ... Four of the team's five countable scores were career-best marks, led by Ava Molina's 9.900 ... Sophomore Lindsay Girard tied for second overall at 9.825, while Carley Stalder and Grace Suchecki each logged career-high marks of 9.800 ... Rounding out the quintet was sophomore Avery Kantor with a 9.725 in her competitive debut.

» FULL OF BALANCE: Junior Lindsay Fuller continues to be a staple on the beam for the Cardinals, earning a season-best 9.800 last Sunday vs. Bowling Green ... Over 14 career beam routines, she has scored 9.700-or-higher 10 times ... Her career-best is a 9.875 to win the event at the 2025 Ball State Tri (Jan. 26).

» HITTING THE MARKS: Ball State has scored 9.800-or-better in 16 routines so far this season, including three scores of 9.900 ... The Cardinals have had six beam routines and six floor routines hit at least a 9.800, while adding two each on vault and bars ... Last season, the Cardinals produced 101 scores of 9.800-or-better with 11 scores of at least 9.900.

» RECORDS UNDER SALEEM:
- Ball State has tallied the 40 best team scores in program history under head coach Joanna Saleem … 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.