The Cardinals' meet against the University of Illinois Wednesday, April 4, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the first matchup of the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Regionals Championships came down to less than one point.
The meet was close throughout, with the Fighting Illini only leading by .025 points for most of the competition. It was all decided by the final rotation when Ball State was on beam and Illinois was on floor. Despite solid showings for both teams in each event, Ball State fell to Illinois 195.825-195.775.
While the Cardinals did lose, head coach Joanna Saleem was still pleased with their performance.
“They came out and competed well,” she said. “We need to be able to be just a little bit sharper to get into round two, and hopefully this experience gives them the ability to do that next year.”
Going into the event, Ball State was ranked No. 34 while Illinois was at No. 31. The Fighting Illini had a similar season to the Cardinals, as Ball State ended the season with a national qualifying score (NQS) of 196.600 points, while Illinois earned an NQS of 196.690 points. Both teams fell short of its point average at the regional matchup.
Highlights of the meet included Ball State senior Suki Pfister’s vault. She stuck the landing on her routine to earn 9.900 points, the highest of the event. Senior Victoria Henry and sophomore Zoe Middleton also showed out on vault, earning 9.825 points for the Cardinals.
Vault was Ball State's best event, ending with 49.100 points. This was the most overall points either side acquired for one event.
Beam was another high point for the Cardinals, gaining a total score of 48.975 points, higher than Illinois’ 48.900 score in the same event.
Sophomore all-around Zoe Middleton performs her beam routine March 23 at the Mid-American Championship at Worthen Arena. Middleton scored 9.900 on vault. Andrew Berger, DN
Standouts included Middleton and junior Grace Sumner who earned 9.850 points for Ball State. Sumner executed a beautiful series and a flowy side aerial into a back handspring. She looked confident on beam, making performing on the four inches of wood look easy.
“The whole beam group did really solid gymnastics,” Saleem said.
Middleton claimed the all-around title at the meet with 39.275 total points, and senior Hannah Ruthberg placed second all-around at 39.125 points.
Despite bars having been the Cardinals’ highest-ranked event earlier in the season in February, it ended up being their lowest-scoring event of the day. They ended the event with 48.800 points.
The highest scores were from Middleton and graduate student Megan Teter with 9.800 points.
The rest of the results were between 9.750 and 9.700 points, which wasn’t enough to beat out Illinois’ 49.050 total points. The Cardinals also fell to the Fighting Illini on floor 49.000-48.900.
These small point differences resulted in Ball State’s loss. While this is the end of the season for Ball State Gymnastics as a team, individuals compete at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4.
Freshman Ashley Szymanski and Teter will compete on bars, while Henry and Pfister will compete on vault. Pfister will also compete on floor, and Middleton will compete all-around.
Contact Lila Fierek with comments at lkfierek@bsu.edu.
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