What appeared to be a walk in the park turned into a fight for survival as the Ball University Cardinals battled the Black Bears from the University of Maine.
Ashley Lahue and Chance Fuller compress 15 hours of a Ball State gymnastics meet from start to finish.
If Ball State gymnastics continues to draw as large of a crowd as the team's first meet, a move to Worthen Arena could be in store, said Dan Byrnes, director of sports facilities and recreation services. Sunday’s meet against the University of Florida brought a record-breaking crowd of 1,564 people to Irving Gym, located in the Jo Ann Gora Student Recreation and Wellness Center. “Normally our crowds are five to six hundred ... that’s why we built it the way we did,” Byrnes said. With only 600 seats available, nearly 1,000 spectators stood for the duration of the two-hour gymnastics meet. According to USA Gymnastics, the sport has seen a 28 percent increase in athletes in the past 10 years, reaching 110,000 gymnasts nationwide.
Mark Sandy's job description remains the same after taking the Ball State athletic director position, since he previously served at Eastern Kentucky.
