MUNCIE, Ind. – The Western Michigan gymnastics team claimed a share of the Mid-American Conference Regular Season Championship after a narrow 196.950-196.900 victory at Ball State on Sunday afternoon.
Senior Payton Murphy landed a 9.925 on beam as the Broncos' final competitor of the meet to put them over the top. WMU had to wait for BSU's Megan Teter to finish on floor, but here 9.925 was not enough to overcome Western Michigan's advantage.
This is the second MAC Regular Season Championship for the Broncos.
The teams were evenly matched early on, but it was on beam at the end where WMU separated itself from BSU. Murphy won the event, with Ronni Binstock tying for second place with two Cardinals after a 9.900. Amanda Gruber had a 9.875 and was followed by Sarah Moravansky at 9.825 and Dani Petrousek at 9.800.
Petrousek won on bars with a 9.900, with Moravansky tying for second place with a 9.875 and Murphy tying for fourth with a 9.850. Cassie St. Clair, Murphy and Moravansky all tied for third place on vault with scores of 9.825. Binstock and St. Clair also tied for second on floor with scores of 9.900.
Murphy finished on the top of the all-around with a 39.475, with BSU's Hannah Ruthberg in second at 39.225 and Moravansky in third with a 39.125.
The Broncos look to add more hardware at the 2022 MAC Championship Meet on Saturday at Kent State University. The meet begins at 2 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Sunday was another record-setting afternoon for Ball State gymnastics, which used a program record team score of 196.900 to capture a share of the 2023 Mid-American Conference regular season championship at Worthen Arena.
While the Cardinals (16-6; 5-1 MAC) came up 0.050 short of visiting Western Michigan, which scored 196.950, BSU was able to secure a share of the league crown with the Broncos (11-4; 5-1 MAC).
In a battle of the league's top ranked teams in the NQS, Ball State started off hot with a 49.200 on vault, highlighted by another 9.950 and event win from junior Suki Pfister.
The Cardinals carried the momentum over to bars, landing five routines of 9.825-or-higher for the third-best bars score in program history at 49.225. Senior Grace Evans was BSU's top gymnast in the event, landing a 9.875.
On beam, the Cardinals used 9.900s from senior Taylor Waldo and sophomore Grace Sumner to finish with a mark of 49.100.
Ball State's seniors would shine again on floor, led by a career-best tying score of 9.925 from Megan Teter which locked up the event victory. Waldo added her second solid performance of the day with a 9.875.
Overall, Ball State's seniors shined on senior day, including a 9.825 on beam from Lauren Volpe. In fact, the Cardinals four seniors accounted for seven of the team's 18 scores of 9.800-or-higher on the day.
