Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Pittsburgh
Gymnastics Back In Action Friday at Pitt Quad
February 25, 2026 | Gymnastics
| Ball State Gymnastics (9-5) at Pitt Quad | |
| Meet 9 - at Pitt Quad w/Pittsburgh (1-9), Temple (7-10) and Towson (8-5) |
Friday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. ET Live Results | ESPN+ |
| Tickets Info | Pitt Quad Ticket Info |
| Notes | Ball State | Pitt | Temple | Towson |
| Social Media | Twitter | Instagram |
» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE GYMNASTICS: The Ball State gymnastics team closes its busiest stretch of the season Friday, when it travels to Pitt for the Pitt Quad ... Joining the Cardinals and host Panthers for a 7 p.m. start at Fitzgerald Field House will be Temple and Towson ... It will be Ball State's third meet in a second-day span, after it competed at the Mizzou Quad (Feb. 20) and at Western Michigan (Feb. 22) last weekend.
» A QUICK LOOK AT BALL STATE:
- The Cardinals enter the Pitt Quad ranked second in the MAC and 37th nationally with a team NQS of 195.113 ... Ball State earned a season-best 195.675 at the SEMO Quad (Feb. 1) and have captured 22 of a possible 32 individual event victories so far this season ... In addition, the Cardinals have five individual all-around wins thanks to senior Zoe Middleton the last six outings.
- Ball State currently leads the MAC and ranks 33rd nationally with a beam NQS of 48.829 ... The Cardinals have scored a season-high 49.250 on beam twice this season, at Northern Illinois (Jan. 24) and at Western Michigan (Feb. 22) ... Juniors Ashley Szymanski and Delaney McMahon are currently first (9.855 NQS) and second (9.845 NQS), respectively, in the MAC with each tying the program record with a score of 9.925 last Sunday at Western Michigan.
» 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 ... Ball State is currently dropping its 195.675 scored at the SEMO Quad (Feb. 1) and a 193.800 at Northern Illinois (Jan. 24).
- 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.
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 ... She picked up her eighth career MAC Gymnast of the Week honor Tuesday for her all-around performances at the Mizzou Quad (Feb. 20) and at Western Michigan (Feb. 22) ... Middleton won the all-around title (39.225) and tied for the vault win (9.850) at WMU ... She scored 39.125 in the all-around at Mizzou, including tying for fifth on floor with a season-best score of 9.900 ... Overall, all eight of Middleton's performances counted in the final team score last week, with six of her routines scoring 9.800-or-better.
- 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 Pitt Quad having seen 146 of her 161 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 23 career routines of 9.900-or-better ... She owns 25 career individual event wins and 16 career all-around titles, including one floor (Jan. 24), two vault (Feb. 1 & Feb. 22) and five all-around (Jan. 24, Feb 1, Feb. 8, Feb. 15 & Feb. 22) titles this season ... 13 of her individual wins have been on floor, while five have come on vault, four on bars 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 23 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 ... Szymanski turned in back-to-back 9.950s in the second Ball State Tri (Feb. 8) and vs. Eastern Michigan (Feb. 15), which ties as the best bars score in the league so far this season ... Overall, she has 17 bars victories in 35 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 five times so far this season ... In fact, in last Sunday's dual at Western Michigan, she tied the program's individual beam record with a score of 9.925 ... That was two meets after scoring 9.900 in the dual win over Eastern Michigan (Feb. 15) ... Szymanski has scored 9.750-or-better in 27 of her 31 collegiate beam routines and has six career beam wins ... She currently leads the MAC on beam with a NQS of 9.855.
» MORE FROM THE BEAM: Also turning in a 9.925 on beam last Sunday at Western Michigan was junior Delaney McMahon who hit the mark for the second time in her collegiate career ... McMahon, who also scored 9.900 on beam vs. Eastern Michigan (Feb. 15), is currently second in the MAC with a beam NQS of 9.845 ... She has scored at least 9.725 in all eight of her beam routines this season ... McMahon is also competing on vault for the Cardinals this season, including scoring a career-high 9.800 in the Feb. 8 tri meet with Kent State and Illinois State.
» MOLINA MAKING NOISE: Ava Molina has been solid on the floor for the Cardinals this season, ranking second in the MAC with a 9.855 NQS ... The effort included a pair of 9.900s, with the first earning her the event win 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) ... Overall, Molina has made a big impact for the Cardinals over the past three seasons, scoring 9.725-or-higher in 45 of her 62 competitive routines between floor, bars and beam.
» 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) and at Western Michigan (Feb. 22) to earn two more collegiate vault victories ... Stalder currently leads the squad and ranks third in the MAC with a 9.815 vault NQS, having scored 9.800-or-higher in five of her eight collegiate vaults ... 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 eight 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 9.800 at Western Michigan (Feb. 22) ... She has also returned to the bars lineup and turned in seven countable scores so far this year, including a career-best 9.875 to lead the squad at the Mizzou Quad (Feb. 20) ... She also won the bars competition with a 9.800 at WMU.
- Sophomore Avery Kantor made her collegiate debut with a 9.725 on floor versus Bowling Green (Jan. 18) and added a career-best 9.825 at the Mizzou Quad (Feb. 20) ... She has scored at least 9.725 in all five of her floor routines this season.
- 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) and tied the mark at the Mizzou Quad (Feb. 20).
» 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 20 career beam routines, she has scored 9.700-or-higher 14 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 75 routines so far this season, including 12 scores of at least 9.900 ... The Cardinals have had 23 beam routines hit at least a 9.800, while adding 20 on floor, 17 on bars and 15 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 43 best team scores in program history under head coach Joanna Saleem … In fact, of Ball State's 47 scores of 195.450-or-higher, 45 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 50 team entries in the vault record book are held by Saleem's teams, as are 37 of 44 scores on bars, 32 of 37 scores on beam and 31 of 37 scores on floor.
- 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).
Players Mentioned
