GYMNASTICS: Ball State thinks it figured out the puzzle
As the Ball State gymnastics team reaches the midway point of the 2011 season, the squad feels things are starting to fall into place.
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As the Ball State gymnastics team reaches the midway point of the 2011 season, the squad feels things are starting to fall into place.
Perfection is rare in gymnastics. So rare that only one Cardinal has ever achieved it.
Despite the ice storm that slowed campus this week, the Ball State gymnastics team managed to avoid letting the weather affect its preparation.
A balance beam is four inches wide. It is about as difficult for a gymnast to stay on the beam while leaping and flipping as it was for Ball State students to safely navigate to and from class this week without falling.
Coach Nadalie Walsh isn't going to accept mistakes anymore.
Hard work and a new attitude for the Ball State gymnastics team led to positive results Saturday.
The Ball State gymnastics team is stuck in neutral, if not reverse.
As in life, as in gymnastics, once you fall, there's nothing to do but get back up, brush yourself off and try again.
Week 1 to Week 2 is a time to show quick growth in gymnastics.
Fans who follow the Ball State gymnastics team will have to learn some new names this season.
Ball State showcased a mixture of old and new faces in Friday's exhibition loss to Kentucky.
The Ball State gymnastics team will open its 2010-11 season tonight with an exhibition meet against Kentucky.
The Ball State gymnastics team signed its first gymnast in the class of 2011.
Two Ball State gymnasts were involved in an alcohol-related traffic stop over the weekend, and one was arrested on a charge of drunken driving.
Coach Nadalie Walsh has added another gymnast to her 2010-11 class.
The Mid-American Conference announced its academic all-conference gymnastics team Wednesday, and one Ball State University gymnast made the cut.
The Ball State University gymnastics program announced Monday that Aftyn Siemer has signed her letter of intent to join the team next season.Siemer has trained at the Integrity Gymnastics Club in Plain City, Ohio, for two years under 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist Natalia Laschenova.Siemer was a member of the Level 9 national championship team and is a former Level 9 regional and state champion in the all-around.Kayla Hani and Leah Wilson, both from Florida, will join Siemer in the 2011 freshman class.The Cardinals finished their 2010 campaign with a 6-10 record and a fifth-place finish in the Mid-American Conference Championships. Two gymnasts who qualified for the NCAA Central Regionals, Brittney Emmons and Tiffany Brodbeck, will return to the team next season.
The 2010 season for the Ball State University gymnastics team was one of development, and the beginning of a transformation into an upper-level program.That's how coach Nadalie Walsh characterized the season. She said the transformation mainly occurred in the mindset of the Cardinal gymnasts."I had a group of girls that weren't sure if they were capable," Walsh said. "Now they are sure of what they can do."Prior to Ball State's exhibition meet against the University of Kentucky in December, Walsh was asking herself "Where are we as a team?" She said she now has the answer to that question."I feel like I finally have the team that is going to train hard in the postseason. They're not going to let themselves take any steps back," she said. "[A lack of offseason development] has been our biggest detriment over the past years."Ball State finished ranked 43rd in the country, seven spots and 1.22 points outside of qualifying for NCAA Regionals. Walsh said improving vault start values and adding another challenging tumbling pass is going to be instrumental in making up that difference."We're set on our other events," she said. "Vault is the main thing that's keeping us from the 194 [point] threshold."After a rough start, scoring a 187.425 in the season opener against Western Michigan University — which Walsh called a "disappointment" — the team rebounded to improve its score by more than 5.5 points during the second half of the season. The team broke the 193 barrier in four of the final five meets.By comparison week-to-week scores, the Cardinals would have defeated the Broncos in six of the last eight weeks of the season. Walsh said she wants to avoid scheduling Mid-American Conference opponents at the start of the season.Walsh said her most memorable moment was Ball State's rebound in the second week of the season, a more than five-point improvement to 192.85 in New Hampshire."The girls were so focused," she said. "It clicked; it was the lights come on moment."Ball State scored a 193.925 against Illinois State University on Feb. 5, the highest score in Walsh's tenure and the best since 2004. The Cardinals' six wins were the most since 2003.Athletics director Tom Collins said he is happy with the progress the team has made both this year and during Walsh's three years as coach."I think we've taken steps up, and I think Nadalie continues to bring in good student-athletes," he said.Walsh said the Illinois State meet was probably Ball State's best this year, but that the Cardinals did not have their best floor exercise routines that day."We really didn't have a meet where we hit four events," she said. "We just weren't as consistent as we need to be."The team is healthier than last year, Walsh said. Although the team did lose four gymnasts for the season due to injuries and surgeries, the core of the team remained healthy and there are no offseason surgeries scheduled.The team also dealt with the loss of sophomore Ellie Carrico, who left the team in February. Senior Megan Howard largely filled the gap left by Carrico on the balance beam.Now in the offseason, workouts have been reduced to eight hours per week. Walsh said the gymnasts have to take the initiative to continue to their development on their own time as well."It puts a lot on their own shoulders. How bad do they want it? How hard are they going to work?" she said. "This summer, when they're not in our gym, at our school, are they going to be in their own gym, at home, holding themselves accountable?"Walsh said the work ethic has to be self-motivated.Walsh added that she would like to see sophomore Kayla Kmiecik breakthrough in offseason training."I would like to see her be able to put everything together that we know she's capable of," Walsh said.Recruiting is the other aspect of developing the team for 2011.Along with gymnasts who have the ability to compete right away, Walsh said she is looking for recruits who fit within the team's dynamic."Their personalities have to fit the team and my personality," she said. "I found that when someone's going against the flow, it disrupts what we're going for."Kayla Hani and Leah Wilson signed letters of intent in the fall to join the team. Additional recruits will be announced later this week.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The NCAA Central Regionals were a mixed bag Saturday for the Ball State University gymnastics team, as three Cardinals ended their season.The day was bookended by strong performances from senior Bibiana Rodriguez and sophomore Brittney Emmons, but a trio of falls in the middle dampened the Cardinals' results.Rodriguez completed her Ball State career with an 11th-place finish on the uneven bars with a 9.8, improving upon her 28th-place bars finish in 2009."I'm really proud," Rodriguez said. "I came out here and did my job."She said this was a performance she could be proud to call her last as a Cardinal, but she'll miss the experience and the team."Four years go by really fast," she said.Coach Nadalie Walsh said she was delighted by Rodriguez's accomplishments Saturday and in her career."She was the beginning of changing Ball State gymnastics," Walsh said. "I couldn't ask for anything more."Other than Rodriguez, however, the Cardinals saw some struggles Saturday. Emmons finished in 17th in the all-around with a 37.4 — her season-low.Her score was severely hampered by a stumble on the bars in her second rotation. She was able to manage to stay on the lower bar, but her score suffered nonetheless. She was given a 9.0 on her routine, essentially knocking her out of the all-around competition.After the bars, Emmons had another fall, this time on the second trick of her beam routine, to score an 8.85. It was her lowest score on the bars and beam this season."I can't really say a specific thing [that caused the falls]," Emmons said. "I went out there and just did my best, and that was just a little bit short of what I wanted. … Sometimes the cards don't fall the right way."Emmons rebounded at the end of the meet on her strongest event, the floor exercise. She scored a 9.85, which was good for 13th place. She also scored a 9.7 on the vault – 35th place – in her first event."I had a really good start and finish," Emmons said. "It was a little rough in the middle."She said she felt more comfortable with the floor and vault — events that she competed in for the 2009 Central Regionals — than the middle events. Emmons said competing in the all-around at regionals will give her experience to put toward next year and the 2011 regionals.Falling proved to be contagious for Ball State on Saturday. Freshman Tiffany Brodbeck fell in the middle of her floor routine – her first fall on the floor this season – and scored a 9.125."To be honest, words can't explain [what happened]," Brodbeck said. "I haven't fallen on that skill in six years. And it just seemed to happen today."Saturday's meet started at approximately 6 p.m., but Brodbeck didn't perform her one routine until shortly after 8 p.m."The waiting was terrible. The waiting was so long," she said.By contrast, Rodriguez's day was over by 7 p.m. She spent the rest of the meet providing some senior leadership to her underclassmen teammates."[After their falls], I told them they didn't need to worry, because they going to be here next year," Rodriguez said. "I'm positive and confident of that."Brodbeck said the fall was disappointing, but she's going put the mistake behind her and look forward to next year."At least I know what to expect now," she said.Walsh said the experience of competing as individuals is much different than what they were used to through the season."They had to come without their team," she said. "They had to learn how to just be here for themselves. They didn't have anybody else to put their energy into."No. 1 University of Alabama and No. 12 University of Nebraska advanced to the NCAA National Championships with team scores of 197.4 and 195.875, respectively. The Crimson Tide swept every individual title, including sophomore Geralen Stack-Eaton taking the all-around.Senior Sarah Schmidt, of No. 13 University of Illinois, and senior Nicole Curler, of Michigan State University, qualified for nationals in the all-around.No. 24 Central Michigan University finished in fourth place and put two on the podium: senior Katie Simon (fifth place in the all-around) and freshman Britney Taylor (fourth place on bars). Simon finished 0.05 behind Curler to miss the bid to nationals.One unique aspect of Saturday's meet was that Ball State was paired with other schools for its rotations. Emmons spent her day with Illinois and Rodriguez and Brodbeck competed alongside Michigan State.The Big Ten schools offered cheers of encouragement to the Cardinal gymnasts as they competed, which Emmons said she appreciated."It's really cool to be able to have a team, even if it's not your own, have another team that's there to support you," she said. "It's no fun when no one's cheering for you."Although the rest of the Ball State squad wasn't on the sidelines with the trio, they were in the stands Saturday night, cheering on their fellow Cardinals."That says I have a team who wants to all be here next year," Walsh said.And when do Walsh and the team start thinking about 2011?
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Three Ball State University gymnasts ended their season today at the NCAA Central Regionals, as each represented the school in individual competition.