Gymnastics Off to Cape Girardeau For Sunday's SEMO Quad

Sunday, February 1

Cape Girardeau, MO

2 p.m.

Ball State University

Southeast Missouri

Karli Mercer throwing out a Chirp at NUI

Gymnastics Off to Cape Girardeau For Sunday's SEMO Quad

January 29, 2026 | Gymnastics

Ball State Gymnastics (3-1; 2-0 MAC) at SEMO Quad Meet
Meet 3 - at Southeast Missouri (5-2) with Illinois State (4-5) & UW-Oshkosh (6-0)	Saturday, Jan. 24 at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT Live Results \| ESPN+
Tickets Info	Ticket Info: Adult - $8 / Kids Cheer Free
Notes	Ball State \| SEMO \| Illinois State \| UW-Oshkosh
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics team will compete in its first quad meet of the season Sunday when it travels to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for the SEMO Quad Meet ... Action gets underway at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT at the Show Me Center and will feature the Cardinals along with host Southeast Missouri, Illinois State and Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

» A QUICK LOOK AT BALL STATE: The Cardinals enter the weekend ranked 45th nationally with an average score of 194.433 ... Ball State earned a season-best 195.225 against Bowling Green (Jan. 18) and has taken top honors in all four individual events in each of its last two outings ... BSU currently leads the MAC and rank 20th nationally with an average beam score of 48.958.

» A QUICK LOOK AT SOUTHEAST MISSOURI: SEMO enters the weekend ranked 55th nationally with an average score of 192.942 ... The Redhawks scored a season-best 193.350 at the Windy City Invite on Jan. 16 ... SEMO's best event is beam, with the squad ranking 46th nationally with an average score of 48.417.

» A QUICK LOOK AT ILLINOIS STATE: Led by former Ball State assistant coach Cassandra Ringer (2019-25), the Redbirds enter the weekend ranked 56th nationally with an average score of 192.881 ... ISU scored a season-best 193.700 versus Centenary College on Jan. 18 ... Illinois State's best event is floor, with the squad ranking 51st nationally with an average score of 48.531.

» A QUICK LOOK AT WISCONSIN-OSHKOSH: The Titans enter the weekend ranked 63rd nationally with an average score of 191.888 ... UW-Oshkosh scored a season-best 192.100 in its season-opening UW-Oshkosh Quadrangular on Jan. 3 ... The Titans' best event is floor, with the squad ranking 58th nationally with an average score of 48.413.

» 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 has been named the MAC Specialist of the Week for the past two weeks, giving her four career honors ... The first came 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 ...The second came on Jan. 27 after she claimed the win on bars (9.800) and placed third on beam (9.850) in the win at Northern Illinois (Jan. 24).
- Freshman Carley Stalder earned her first career MAC Gymnast of the Week honor on Jan. 27 after claiming first on vault (9.850) and tying for the top spot on beam (9.875) in the win at Northern Illinois (Jan. 24) ... She also turned in a countable score of 9.750 on floor.

» MORE ON MIDDLETON:
- A 2025 First Team All-MAC selection and 2024 Second Team All-MAC honoree, Zoe Middleton enters the SEMO Quad Meet having seen 129 of her 141 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 ... After winning both floor (9.825) and the all-around (39.175) in the victory at Northern Illinois (Jan. 24), she owns 23 career individual event wins and 12 career all-around titles ... 13 of her individual wins have been on floor, while four have come 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 her career.
- 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 MAC individual champion on bars, junior Ashley Szymanski has won all three 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 the win over Bowling Green (Jan. 18) and a 9.800 win the victory at Northern Illinois (Jan. 24), giving her 15 bars victories in 30 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.

» SZYMANSKI ALSO ROCKS THE BEAM: Ashley Szymanski has been a staple in Ball State's beam lineup over her career, including winning the event versus Bowling Green (Jan. 18) ... Her score of 9.875 tied her career-best and is tied as 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 22 of her 26 collegiate beam routines and has won the event twice.

» MORE FROM THE BEAM: Ball State tied the fifth-best team beam score in program history last Saturday with its mark of 49.250 ... All six gymnasts in the lineup scored at least a 9.800, with Carley Stalder and junior Delaney McMahon tying for the event win at 9.875 ... Ashley Szymanski placed third at 9.850, while the Cardinals also counted 9.825s from juniors Ava Molina and Lindsay Fuller ... The score not counted, a 9.800 from Zoe Middleton.

» MOLINA MAKING NOISE: Ava Molina became the third different Cardinals gymnast to score a 9.900 this season, winning the floor competition with the mark in the league dual versus Bowling Green (Jan. 18) ... 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 34 of her 51 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 ... She would go on to hit the mark again in last Saturday's win at NIU to earn her second collegiate vault victory ... The score currently ties as the third-best vault in the MAC this season and ties as the 118th-highest nationally ... With her vault win on Jan. 11, Stalder became the first Ball State freshman gymnast to win an individual event in a season-opening meet since the 2010 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 set vs. Bowling Green (Jan. 18) and 9.875 on beam set last Saturday at NIU.

» FIRST-TIMER HIGHLIGHTS:
- There has been a lot of new in the Ball State lineup for the first three 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 six countable scores of her first six 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 vs. BGSU (Jan. 18) ... She has also returned to the bars lineup and turned in a season-best 9.800 against the Falcons ... 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 Jan. 11, scoring a 9.650 which was fourth on the squad that day ... She followed with Ball State's second-best beam routine of the day at 9.850 ... She has added scores of 9.800 and 9.875 on beam over the last two meets, giving her eight career routines of 9.750-or-higher.
- Sophomore Avery Kantor made her collegiate debut with a 9.725 on floor versus Bowling Green (Jan. 18), while freshman Ava Thurston made her collegiate debut with a 9.775 on vault at Northern Illinois ... Both efforts counted in the final team scores, helping lead the Cardinals to a pair of MAC wins.

» FULL OF BALANCE: Junior Lindsay Fuller continues to be a staple on the beam for the Cardinals, earning a season-best 9.825 last Saturday at Northern Illinois ... Over 15 career beam routines, she has scored 9.700-or-higher 11 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 26 routines so far this season, including three scores of 9.900 ... The Cardinals have had 12 beam routines hit at least a 9.800, while adding seven on floor, four on vault and three on 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 30 of 35 scores on beam.
- Her gymnasts own or have tied the individual program marks on vault (10.0), bars (10.0), beam (9.925), floor (9.950) and in the all-around (39.750).