Sunday’s Gymnastics Results
Ball State 196.400, Eastern Michigan 195.150
Kent State 197.100, Bowling Green 195.750
Minnesota 197.725, Northern Illinois 196.000, West Virginia 195.875, Air Force 195.125
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Ball State 196.400, Eastern Michigan 195.150
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State gymnastics team celebrated senior day in style Sunday afternoon at Worthen Arena, claiming its second consecutive Mid-American Conference Regular Season Championship with a 196.400 to 195.150 victory over Eastern Michigan.
To do it, the Cardinals (14-4; 5-1 MAC) relied heavily on the four gymnasts it celebrated immediately after the meet.
It started on vault, with all four seniors throwing in countable scores as Ball State tied the seventh-best team vault score in program history at 49.175. Leading the way was senior Victoria Henry who closed the rotation with a winning mark of 9.925.
Senior Suki Pfister was not far behind, tying for second by registering a 9.900 for her seventh vault of 9.900-or-higher this season. Pfister entered the meet ranked fourth in the nation with a vault NQS of 9.935.
Rounding out the senior day highlights on vault were a 9.800 from Hannah Ruthberg and a 9.750 from Megan Teter.
The second rotation saw BSU's young guns honor the team's upperclassmen in a big way, starting with freshman Ava Molina. In just her second appearance in the bars competition lineup this season, Molina wowed the enthusiastic Worthen Arena crowd with a winning score of 9.900.
Not far behind was sophomore Zoe Middleton who tied Teter for second at 9.850. Overall, all six Ball State gymnasts scored at least a 9.800 on bars as the Cardinals tied the sixth-best team score in program history in the event at 49.250.
While the third rotation was the toughest for the Cardinals, it still managed to top the Eagles (7-9; 2-4 MAC) on beam led by a second-place score of 9.775 from junior Grace Sumner. Henry turned in BSU's second best beam score of the afternoon at 9.725.
Ball State saved its best for last, however, turning in a dominating effort on floor, counting five scores of 9.875-or-higher to tie the third-best team floor score in program history at 49.500.
Pfister and Middleton led the way, tying for the event victory at 9.925. The remainder of the senior class followed with Henry earning a 9.900, while Ruthberg and Teter scored 9.875s.
Powered by her 9.925 on floor and 9.850 on bars, Middleton would earn her fourth all-around title of the season with a 39.225.
Throw it all together and Ball State's team score of 196.400 is the seventh best in program history and the seventh time this season the Cardinals have scored 196.000-or-higher. The effort helped BSU earn a share of the 2024 MAC regular season title with Kent State who also finished the regular season with a 5-1 league mark.
In addition to the four seniors in the competition, the Cardinals also honored student manager Kelly Sulek who was a two-year letterwinner for the program before being medically disqualified. Sulek has working tirelessly over the last two seasons helping us become better as a team and doing everything in her power to help us put points and program records on the board.
The Ball State gymnastics team returns to action Saturday when it welcomes the other six league teams to Worthen Arena for the 2024 Mid-American Conference Gymnastics Championships. Action begins at 2 p.m. and tickets are available at https://ballstatesports.com/gymnasticstickets
Kent State 197.100, Bowling Green 195.750
KENT, Ohio – With a 197.100-195.750 win over Bowling Green on senior day, the Kent State gymnastics team earned a share of the Mid-American Conference regular season title heading into the conference championship meet. The Golden Flashes tied with Ball State atop the conference table as both teams finished the season 5-1 in conference meets.
Kent State's 197.100 sets the third-highest score in program history and the third-best mark so far this season. This year's squad has set five of the six-highest score in program history.
The Flashes, who entered Sunday's meet ranked No. 24 in the country, won on all four events and have secured their spot in the upcoming NCAA Championships. They have also now scored 49+ on all four events in three consecutive meets.
Competing in Olympic order (on the Flashes' Olympic Day), Kent State started the afternoon on vault, combining for a 49.075 team total. Nastia Rudnitskaya and Kennedy Weinpert led the way for the Flashes, tying for first with a 9.850 each. Mya Migliore made her collegiate debut in the final meet of the year at the M.A.C. Center, placing third with a 9.825. Charlie Behner continued her strong run in the event, adding a 9.800.
The Flashes earned a 49.325 on bars, their third-highest score in the event this season. Rudnitskaya earned her second event win of the afternoon and was joined atop the podium by Sarah Haxton after each scored 9.925. Rudnitskaya's score set a new career high and marked her first win on bars this season, while Haxton has now claimed three titles in the event during her senior season. A trio of Flashes – Heidi Schultz, Brynne Tsipis, and Kyndall Gilbert – tied for third after each earned a 9.825. After holding a slim lead heading into the apparatus, the Flashes' strong second rotation put them in the driver's seat for the rest of the meet.
Alyssa Guns won her third beam title of the season with a 9.875. Haxton continued to be rock-solid as the beam leadoff, scoring 9.825 to kick off the rotation. Schultz, Dani Fuertez, and Gabby Riley all added a 9.800 as the Flashes combined for a 49.100 heading into floor.
With a regular season title on the line, the Flashes put together one of their strongest performances on floor, earning a 49.600 team total. Fuertez led the way for Kent State, earning a career-best 9.975 to win the event after receiving a 10.00 from one judge. Schultz scored a 9.950 to finish second while Alyssa Guns earned a third-place finish with a 9.925. Karlie Franz and Zoe Rankin each scored 9.875 to give the Flashes their second-highest floor score of the season and secure the senior day win and their second MAC regular season title in the past three seasons.
The Flashes will travel back to Muncie, Ind., for the 2024 Mid-American Conference Championship next weekend. The seven-team competition will get underway at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 23, and will be streamed on ESPN+. The Flashes last championship meet victory came in the 2016 season, their 12th in program history.
