For the second time in two weeks, the Ball State gymnastics team will hit the road for a Saturday meet. This time the Cardinals will embark on a pilgrimage to the University of Illinois, where they'll meet up with the Fighting Illini, Auburn and Mid-American Conference rival Northern Illinois.
The defending MAC champion Cardinals could face some of their fiercest competition of the year at Saturday's four-way tournament.
Returning for the Illini will be sophomore all-around competitor Ashley Williams. Last season Williams grabbed all conference honors and also took home Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Northern Illinois will be lead by sophomore Kristina Campos. Campos took home the MAC Gymnast of the Week award this week.
After scoring a 195.350 at the Michigan State invite, the Auburn Tigers head into Saturday's meet ranked 13th in the country, their highest ranking since 1994. Auburn is also in the top 25 in the nation in several categories. The Tigers are currently 7th on beam, 14th on floor exercise, 17th on uneven bars, and 21st on bars.
Despite the hype coming from the other teams, the Cardinals remain optimistic. To prepare for the meet, the team has been putting extra emphasis on vault and bars.
"That was the difference in our one point loss to Kent State," said head coach Mary Roth (referring to last Saturday's 193.825 192.825 lost to Kent State). "We had a couple of falls that made the difference in that meet. Hopefully we'll be able to improve on it in practice."
Last season Ball State won its first MAC title in school history. So far this season the team has been able to keep the momentum going. At 2-2, the Cardinals are a contender to repeat as MAC champions.
The team has had different girls step up at each meet. Last week the team was lead by juniors Quiana Williams and Cassie Anthony. Williams led the team last week with an all-around score of 38.30, while Anthony tied for first on the uneven bars with a 9.85. In the season opener sophomore Jessica Surridge and senior Amy Bodus lead the team on vault, while Surridge, Anthony and senior Jenny Taylor led the team on bars.
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