Busy Weekend For Gymnastics Starts Friday at Mizzou

Friday, February 20

Columbia, MO

7 p.m.

Ball State University

Missouri

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Zoe Middleton competes at Northern Illinois

Busy Weekend For Gymnastics Starts Friday at Mizzou

February 18, 2026 | Gymnastics

Ball State Gymnastics (9-1; 4-0 MAC) at Mizzou Quad / Western Michigan
Meet 7 - at Mizzou Quad w/Missouri (6-3), Illinois (3-5) and Air Force (9-6)	Friday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT Live Results \| ESPN+
Meet 8 - at Western Michigan (8-6; 2-1 MAC)	Sunday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. ET Live Results \| ESPN+
Tickets Info	Mizzou Quad Ticket Info \| WMU Ticket Info
Notes	Ball State \| Missouri \| Illinois \| Air Force \| Western Michigan
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics team gets set for a busy weekend of action starting Friday when it competes at the Mizzou Quad ... Joining the Cardinals and host Tigers for a 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT start at Mizzou Arena will be Illinois and Air Force ... From there, Ball State travels to Western Michigan Sunday, looking to remain undefeated in league play ... Action at University Arena starts at 1 p.m. ET.

» CHANGES TO THE NQS TEAM FORMULA:
- In the new NQS team formula, teams can count a max five (5) home scores, with the lowest five counting if there are six or more ... All away scores will be included, with a minimum of five (5) ... Team will drop the highest and lowest scores, and average the remaining ... Teams must compete in a minimum of nine (9) meets.
- For individuals, the NQS formula remains the same ... An individual's top six scores will count towards NQS, with at least three away scores, dropping the high and then averaging the remaining five scores.

» A QUICK LOOK AT BALL STATE:
- The Cardinals enter the weekend ranked third in the MAC and 41st nationally with a team NQS of 194.956 ... Ball State earned a season-best 195.675 at the SEMO Quad (Feb. 1) and have captured 19 of a possible 24 individual event victories so far this season ... In addition, the Cardinals have four individual all-around wins thanks to Zoe Middleton the last four outings.

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 three times this season, giving her five 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) ... The latest came Feb. 17 after she scored 9.950 on bars and a career-high 9.900 on beam to win both events versus Western Michigan.
- 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 Mizzou Quad having seen 138 of her 153 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 22 career routines of 9.900-or-better ... She owns 24 career individual event wins and 15 career all-around titles, including one floor (Jan. 24), one vault (Feb. 1) and four all-around (Jan. 24, Feb 1, Feb. 8 & Feb. 15) titles this season ... 13 of her individual wins have been on floor, while four have come on bars, four on vault and three on beam.
- 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 22 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 bars champion, Ashley Szymanski has won five bars competitions so far this season ... In her last two outings, Szymanski has been in top form with back-to-back 9.950s which ties as the best bars score in the league so far this season ... Overall, she has 17 bars victories in 33 collegiate meets ... Szymanski scored a career-high 9.975 in her MAC debut Jan. 22, 2024, versus Bowling Green ... In addition, the 2025 MAC Specialist of the Year and 2024 MAC Freshman of the Year has three career 9.950s, two career 9.925s and five career 9.900s on bars.

» SZYMANSKI ALSO ROCKS THE BEAM: Ashley Szymanski is also a staple in Ball State's beam lineup, including winning the event four times so far this season ... In last Sunday's dual win over Eastern Michigan, Szymanski turned in a career-best 9.900 which is tied as the highest beam score in the MAC this season ... Szymanski has scored 9.750-or-better in 25 of her 29 collegiate beam routines and has five career beam wins.

» MORE FROM THE BEAM: Ball State tied the fifth-best team beam score in program history at NIU (Jan. 24) 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 Ball State gymnast to score a 9.900 this season, winning the floor competition with the mark versus Bowling Green (Jan. 18) ... She hit the mark again to win floor at the SEMO Quad (Feb. 1), giving her three career marks of 9.900 ... Her first was 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 42 of her 59 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 at NIU (Jan. 24) to earn her second collegiate vault victory ... The score currently ties as the fifth-best individual vault in the MAC this season ... 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 2010 when then-freshman 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 9.850 on floor vs. Kent State and Illinois State (Feb. 8), along with a 9.875 on beam at NIU.

» FIRST-TIMER HIGHLIGHTS:
- There has been a lot of new in the Ball State lineup for the first five 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 seven countable scores in her first eight 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 recently set a career high with a 9.725 vs. Eastern Michigan (Feb. 15) ... She has also returned to the bars lineup and turned in five countable scores so far this year, including tying her career high for a fifth time with a 9.850 versus Kent State and Illinois State (Feb. 8)
- 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 added a career-best bars score of 9.800 versus Kent State and Illinois State (Feb. 8) ... On beam, she has scored at least 9.800 in five of her six routines, tying for the event win with a 9.875 at NIU (Jan. 24) and a 9.900 vs. Eastern Michigan (Feb. 15).
- Sophomore Avery Kantor made her collegiate debut with a 9.725 on floor versus Bowling Green (Jan. 18) and added a career-best 9.750 in each of the last two meets.
- Freshman Ava Thurston made her collegiate debut with a 9.775 on vault at Northern Illinois (Jan. 24) ... She followed with a career-best 9.800 at the Semo Quad (Feb. 1).

» FULL OF BALANCE: Junior Lindsay Fuller continues to be a staple on beam for the Cardinals, earning a season-best 9.825 twice and tying for the event win at the SEMO Quad (Feb. 1) ... Over 18 career beam routines, she has scored 9.700-or-higher 12 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 55 routines so far this season, including nine scores of at least 9.900 ... The Cardinals have had 18 beam routines hit at least a 9.800, while adding 14 on floor, 13 on bars and 10 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:
- Ball State has tallied the 41 best team scores in program history under head coach Joanna Saleem … In fact, of Ball State's 46 scores of 195.450-or-higher, 44 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 49 team entries in the vault record book are held by Saleem's teams, as are 36 of 43 scores on bars, 31 of 37 scores on floor and 31 of 36 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 all-around (39.750).