Gymnastics Opens 2026 Season Sunday With Squishmallows Day

Sunday, January 11

Muncie, IN

1 p.m.

Ball State University

Rutgers

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Zoe Middleton on beam during Ball State's Red vs. White meet

Gymnastics Opens 2026 Season Sunday With Squishmallows Day

January 08, 2026 | Gymnastics

Ball State Gymnastics (0-0; 0-0 MAC) hosts Squishmallows Day vs. Rutgers / Western Michigan
Meet 1 - hosts Rutgers / Western Michigan	Sunday, Jan. 11 at 1 p.m. ET Live Results \| ESPN+
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Notes	Ball State \| Rutgers \| Western Michigan
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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics team opens the 2026 season Sunday when it welcomes Rutgers and Western Michigan to Worthen Arena for Squishmallows Day ... Action begins at 1 p.m. and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN+ for those unable to attend.

» MORE ABOUT SQUISHMALLOWS DAY: The Cardinals encourage fans to bring their favorite fluff-filled friends and enjoy a fun-filled afternoon of gymnastics action ... Ball State student-athletes will throw out Squishmallows to fans throughout the day, including for each routine hitting 9.750-or-higher ... In addition, there will be a post-meet autograph session on the Worthen Arena concourse.

» UPCOMING HOME PROMOTIONS:
Jan. 18 - K-Pop Demon Hunters Day - The first 150 fans in attendance will receive a free light stick ... K-Pop Demon Hunter themed music and elements throughout the day ... Post-meet autograph session.

Feb. 8 - Alumni & Sports Crossover Day - The Cardinals will celebrate alumni and other Ball State Athletics programs in attendance at the meet ... Crossover features 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.

» 2025 SEASON REWIND:
- Junior Ashley Szymanski wrapped up the 2025 season by earning her second consecutive individual appearance at the NCAA Regional Championships ... She competed on bars for the Cardinals at the Alabama Regional, scoring a 9.775 to place 17th among the 27 bars competitors in the first session of the second round ... Her score was the best among the three individual bars competitors in the session.

- Szymanski earned First Team All-MAC honors and MAC Specialist of the Year after leading the league with a bars NQS of 9.875 during the regular season ... The effort ranked 67th nationally, which earned her an individual spot into NCAA Regional competition ... A two-time MAC Specialist of the Week honoree last season, Szymanski turned in a season-best 9.900 to win the bars competition in Ball State's dual victory over Northern Illinois (March 2) ... She also tallied six scores of 9.875, including her effort to win the individual title at the MAC Championships, which was 0.050 ahead of the next closest competitor.

- Senior Zoe Middleton earned her second straight NCAA Regional individual appearance after ranking 55th nationally with an all-around NQS of 39.155 ... Unfortunately, she was unable to compete in Tuscaloosa (or at the MAC Championships) due to injury ... A four-time MAC Gymnast of the Week last season, Middleton finished the regular season ranked second in the MAC in all-around NQS at 39.115 ... She turned in the MAC's top all-around performance of the season in the win over NIU, earning a 39.500 with scores of 9.900 on vault, beam and floor ... Middleton also earned First Team All-MAC honors after leading the league with a floor NQS of 9.890 ... Middleton's effort on floor included winning the event in six of BSU's 11 regular season meets and posting four scores of 9.900.

- Ball State finished the regular season ranked third in the MAC and 45th nationally with an NQS of 195.470 ... The Cardinals scored a season-best 196.900 in the March 2, 2025 dual victory over Northern Illinois which was the highest team score by a MAC school last season and 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.

- The NIU dual also saw junior Delaney McMahon's tie the program record on beam with a 9.925, helping the Cardinals tie the program's all-time team beam record with a team score of 49.350 ... The effort also included a 9.900 from Middleton, 9.850s from both junior Lindsay Fuller and then-senior Grace Sumner, and a 9.825 from Szymanski.

- The Cardinals produced 101 scores of 9.800-or-better during the 2025 season ... Of the total, 31 came on floor, 26 on bars, 23 on beam and 21 on vault ... Ball State earned 11 scores of at least 9.900, including a 9.925 from then-senior Suki Pfister on vault at Kent State (March 9, 2025) and McMahon's 9.925 on beam to tie the program record versus Northern Illinois ... Middleton earned six scores of 9.900, with one on vault, one on beam and four on floor.

NEWS & NOTES ENTERING 2026

» MIDDLETON BACK FOR MORE: Senior Zoe Middleton enters the 2026 season having seen 122 of her 133 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 20 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.

» POINTS AND WINS: Middleton also enters the 2026 season as Ball State's active points leader, at 1,328.850, and active event wins leader, at 32 ... She has claimed 12 floor wins, 11 all-around victories and three wins each on vault, bars and beam over her collegiate career.

» MORE SENIORS TO WATCH: Both seniors Mary Rose Bellan and Alauna Simms made impacts in the Ball State lineup last season ... Bellan ranked second on the squad and 10th in the MAC with a bars NQS of 9.815 ... She picked up her first collegiate bars victory with a career-high tying 9.850 at Kent State (March 9) ... Simms made her collegiate debut on floor last season, including picking up her first collegiate victory with a career-best 9.900 versus Northern Illinois (March 2).

» HOLDING DOWN THE BARS & BEAM: We know junior Ashley Szymanski returns as one of the league's top bars specialists, having won the bars competition in 12 of her previous 27 collegiate meets ... However, she has also been a staple on beam for the Cardinals, leading the squad and ranking eighth in the MAC with a 9.810 beam NQS last season ... She picked up her first individual beam victory last season with a 9.850 versus Central Michigan (Feb. 9) and scored 9.750-or-better in all 12 of her beam routines.

» MOLINA MAKING NOISE: Junior Ava Molina made a big impact for the Cardinals last season, scoring 9.725-or-higher in 23 of her 36 competitive routines ... She scored a career-high 9.825 on floor at the EMU Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17) and a career-best 9.825 on beam at Kent State (March 9) ... She also scored a season-best 9.800 on bars in BSU's first trip to Ypsilanti ... She 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).

» ANOTHER RECORD SETTER: Junior Delaney McMahon made her competitive debut on beam at Missouri (Jan. 3) last season, tying for BSU's second-best score with a 9.775 ... Overall, she competed on beam in nine meets for the Cardinals and tied the program record with a 9.925 to claim her first collegiate event victory versus Northern Illinois (March 2) ... She finished the season ranked 18th in the MAC with a 9.775 beam NQS.

» MORE IMPACT MAKERS IN 2026:
   - Junior Lindsay Fuller has competed on beam in 12 meets for the Cardinals over her collegiate career, including winning the event with a career-best 9.875 at the 2025 Ball State Tri (Jan. 26) ... She also added a 9.850 on beam versus Northern Illinois (March 2) as part of Ball State's record-tying effort.
   - Junior Lindsay Girard made her competitive debut on both floor (9.550) and vault (9.625) at Missouri (Jan. 3) last season ... She vaulted in all 12 meets and competed on floor 10 times, earning career-best scores of 9.825 in both events ... She even picked up her first collegiate victory with a 9.800 on vault at Eastern Michigan (March 14).
   - Sophomore Karli Mercer made her collegiate debut with a 9.725 on vault at Missouri (Jan. 3) last season ... She has competed in all 12 meets and earned a career-best 9.825 versus Northern Illinois (March 2) ... She also made her beam debut with a career-high 9.725 at Towson (Feb. 21).
   - Sophomore Jordanna Phillis was the last Ball State gymnast to make her collegiate debut in 2025, competing on both bars (9.775) and vault (9.625) at EMU's Golden Girls Classic (Jan. 17) ... She owns three 9.775s on bars and a career-best 9.775 on vault ... Of her 10 competitive routines, nine have counted in the final team score.

» WHO WILL BE NEXT TO SHINE: While the Cardinals return several of its top performers from last season, there is still plenty of room for new faces to make some noise ... Looking at the charts, Ball State has six returning competitors on beam, five on bars and four each on vault and floor.

» A BRILLIANT START: One freshman who has already stood out this season is Carley Stalder who was named to the MAC Gymnasts To Watch list ... During the team's annual Red & White Meet, Stalder tied for the best individual score of the meet with a 9.850 on floor ... She also turned in the team's best vault score, at 9.825, and earned a 9.800 on beam.

» 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.