After suffering a pair of losses last weekend in the state of Illinois, the Ball State gymnastics team will look to get back on track when the members travel to face the University of Illinois on Saturday.
Ball State (4-5, 1-4 Mid-American Conference) struggled in its last meet, producing the lowest team total of the year and dropping it below .500 for the first time this year.
"We had a good meet and (only) counted one fall," said coach Mary Roth, commenting on the meet last weekend against Illinois-Chicago. "We had several (gymnasts) who didn't have 10.0 start values," she said. "Even if they hit, they couldn't be as high as UIC, who had higher start values."
Ball State and Illinois (5-3) will face each other for the second time this season. The Cardinals defeated the Fighting Illini two weeks ago at the Cardinal Classic 193.425 to 192.975.
Although the last time they faced each other was only a short time ago, the Cardinals have had two battle injuries since. The team only had five competitors on vault and floor last weekend due to injuries. However, Roth expects the team to have six gymnasts compete in each event the rest of the season.
Last weekend freshman Jenna Tarkington did not compete in the all-around for the first time all season due to a stress fracture in her shin. Tarkington was limited to only vault and bars.
"I'm giving her time off so it doesn't get worse," said Roth.
Due to certain team members' injuries, some of the freshmen have gotten the chance to compete more and make an impact.
"Kaitlyn Wills has done a good job on floor and vault, and Kelly Watson has done a good job on vault, bars and beam," said Roth.
Lately, the Cardinals have been focusing on making their routines more difficult to allow for better scores.
"We are trying to add difficulty into our skills," said Roth.-á
Roth hopes that the higher start values will lead to better scores.
"We hope they continue to improve on routines and if the individual scores go up, then the team score will go up."
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