Motivation was the key to success Friday as the Ball State University gymnastics team beat Mid-American Conference foe Northern Illinois University by one point.
Coach Lisa Simonton said the crowd gave the biggest boost for the Cardinals as they finished the meet with 192.450 total points, which is the highest total Simonton has coached her team to during her Ball State career.
"This is our home venue and it motivated them a lot," Simonton said. "We had a totally different focus tonight. They didn't hesitate - they just went for it."
One gymnast for Ball State who did just that was senior Kelly Watson. She earned season- and career-high point totals in the floor exercise and in her all-around score by competing in all four events. Her 9.850 overall on the floor beat the three-way tie for second place between teammate Jenna Tarkington and two Northern Illinois athletes. Watson's 38.650 all-around score was 4.5 points more than Northern Illinois' Leah Johnson and was the highest all-around score Watson has had in her Ball State career.
"We know that we can hit our events and we know we can do our events well," Watson said. "This meet was very motivating and it got us fired up for the rest of the season."
Earning first place in the balance beam for Ball State was Cobie Zuk. During the warmup session prior to the meet, Zuk fell off the balance beam, hitting her leg on the beam before hitting the ground, Simonton said. Falling didn't deter her though, as she earned a 9.750 in the event to place ahead of Northern Illinois' Meghan Cronin in second and Watson in third.
"Cobie really overcame her beam fall and did a great job," Simonton said. "We had one mistake on beam and typically we have more."
Early in the meet during the uneven parallel bars, a member of Northern Illinois' and Ball State's team both lost grip on the top bar and fell face first on the mats below. The falls didn't injure either athlete.
After the meet, the team held an autograph session for the fans. The line was longer than anticipated because the team ran out of posters to sign for the fans who included children from local club gymnastics teams, parents and grandparents.
"Our home crowds are awesome," Watson said. "It's to our advantage to perform at home because we perform in front of our families and friends. I think everyone in the lineup did a great job. If one person fell, the next person helped to pick them up."
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