Ball State gymnastics led the Mid-American Conference, with 10 different athletes earning Academic All-MAC honors. To qualify for the Academic All-MAC team, student athletes must compete in at least half of their teams' events and maintain at least a 3.20 GPA.
The Ball State gymnastics season is not yet over, after a school record-setting 195.650 performance at the Mid-American Conference championship, the Cardinals will be sending five gymnasts onto regional competition.
Ball State gymnastics had five individual gymnasts qualify for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Iowa City Regional. The five gymnasts who will be competing at the University of Iowa on April 2 include: senior Denasiha Christian, juniors Sarah Ebeyer and Kayla Beckler, as well as sophomores Baylee Bell and Jordyn Penny. Throughout the 2016 regular season, each one of the Cardinals' qualifiers competed in at least two of the team's events at each meet. As a team, the Cardinals broke the school record in the Mid-American Conference Championships with a score of 195.650. At Regional's, these five gymnasts will compete individually.
Ball State gymnastics took second place at the Mid-American Conference Championships Saturday.
Ball State finished the 2016 Mid-American Conference Championships in second place with senior Denasiha Christian finishing first in both the vault and the beam.
Ball State University is hosting the Mid-American Conference Championship this year for women’s gymnastics. The seven gymnastics teams within the conference will gather in Worthen Arena for the big competition on March 19.
Worthen Arena will play host to the women's gymnastics Mid-American Conference on March 19. Ball State will compete against six other teams for the Championship. The other schools competing include Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan. While Ball State is 1-5 on the season against MAC opponents, the Cardinals have had several individuals finish among the top of the conference in individual categories. Senior Denasiha Christian holds the teams highest three scores on vault this season as well as the highest in the MAC with a 9.975.
Ball State gymnastics outgrew its previous home in Irving Gym, located in the Jo Ann Gora Student Recreation and Wellness Center, so it moved locations this season. The team now performs at Worthen Arena, like many other athletic teams at Ball State. “I was hoping that when we got down there, we would have more of an event-type atmosphere, and that has definitely happened,” head coach Joanna Saleem said. “You can turn the lights off and [make use of] the spotlights. I love that it is fun for the crowd to be able to participate. It is important for the fans to enjoy the event and want to come back”.
Siblings do not often get to compete against each other at the collegiate level, but two sisters from Greenwood, Ind., had that opportunity at Worthen Arena.
The Ball State University women’s gymnastics team competed in its second tri-meet of the weekend against Eastern Michigan University and Illinois State on Jan. 24, at Worthen Arena.
The Ball State Cardinals gymnastics team held its first official home meet on Jan. 17 at Worthen Arena against Towson. Coming into the match, Ball State was ranked 50th in the country, while Towson was 42nd.
Despite opening up the season with a road loss, gymnastics head coach Joanna Saleem looks to utilize the deeper pool of talent she saw in the individual performances during the first meet of the season.
For the first time since 2009, the Ball State gymnastics team will host the Mid-American Conference Championships at Worthen Arena on March 19. Ball State has hosted the tournament five other times in its history and will once again hold home-court advantage.
Season-high’s are being set, but the win’s aren’t accumulating. Ball State Gymnastics had another season-high team score of 193.175 and a season’s best on the vault with a score of 48.725, though they still came up short against Western Michigan in Mid-American Conference play last weekend. The vault score the team produced was close to breaking the school record on team vault with 48.9.
Though the Ball State gymnastics team set a season-high mark of 193.025 on Friday, it couldn’t defeat visiting Bowling Green. “We are getting better little by little, we just have to stay on our game,” head coach Joanna Saleem said. After setting a season-high mark last week as well, the Cardinals kept momentum rolling.
Coming off its strongest meet of the season, the Ball State gymnastics team hopes to carry momentum into the next competition.
It’s all about progress for head coach Joanna Saleem. Final scores have been underwhelming through three meets this season, but the Ball State gymnastics team is just getting started.
Deciding on the best place to raise a family can be tough. Joanna Saleem and her husband learned firsthand how hard it could be when planning their move from Pennsylvania to Indiana.
Ball State has hired the next head coach of the gymnastics team, a Ball State athletics media relations member said.
After six seasons as head coach of Ball State's gymnastics team, Nadalie Walsh is parting ways and heading to Utah.
