Next to the gymnastics gym in Irving Gym, a collage of 20 years worth of pictures hangs on the wall. The collage depicts the memories of athletes and teams throughout the 20-year career of Ball State's gymnastics head coach Mary Roth -- a career that ends today.
Roth announced her retirement at the end of Spring Semester, but today is her last day.
"The hardest thing was just to leave my athletes," she said. "I've certainly enjoyed them. "
During her career at Ball State, Roth created the collage after each season to show what had happened that year. She said she debated taking it with her to Carmel, her residency, but decided to leave it at Ball State so future Ball State gymnasts can see the Cardinals' history.
"After 20 years, there's a lot of memories," she said.
And the collage tells quite a story.
Roth leaves as the winningest coach in Ball State gymnastics history, with 169 overall wins and 47 Mid-American Conference wins. During her 20 years as gymnastics coach, Roth sent nine Ball State gymnasts to the NCAA Regional, including Jessica Surridge in 2005. She also coached 14 individual MAC champions and 18 league runner-ups, and she saw 21 athletes be named to the All-MAC team.
The Cardinals reached a team peak in 1999 when they advanced, for the first time in the program's history, to the NCAA Regional Championships and finished fourth. The regional appearance came after Ball State was only .050 points away from winning the MAC title at the league championship. The Regional fourth-place finish resulted in Ball State being ranked 23rd in the final national poll of the season -- its first and highest ranking ever.
Advancing to the NCAA Regionals is one of Roth's favorite memories, she said, along with her athletes' individual achievements and winning the MAC championship in 1999.
Two of her favorite gymnasts who found individual success were 1997 graduate Sarah Mikrut and 2000 graduate Laura Szczepanski. Combined, the two hold four of five individual records at Ball State, and both received the MAC Bob James Memorial award after their senior seasons.
While Roth was the Cardinals' gymnastics coach, she said she loved "seeing [gymnasts] come in as freshmen and mature academically and athletically."
Since 1999, the Cardinals have been in the final national poll three other times. After the 2000 season, Ball State was ranked 37th nationally, and following the 2001 season, the team was ranked 38th. The Cardinals were last ranked in 2002, with a 43rd ranking. But 1999 remains the one and only MAC-championship win for the team.
"There's a lot of memories as far as winning the MAC championship," she said. However, it'd be too difficult to determine a favorite team in 20 years, Roth said. "I'm so close to each one of those groups. ... It'd be hard to pick my favorite team."
In 2000, Roth led the Cardinals to a 22-6 overall record and a .786 winning percentage, which are both school records. That same year, Ball State again finished second in the MAC Championships for the sixth time in seven years.
Roth said she wants to be remembered "as a good, successful coach who was a good role model for my athletes. Their experience will be remembered positively. I helped them reach the goals they wanted to reach."
The Cardinals struggled through her Roth's final season, finishing 3-17 overall and 1-5 in the MAC.
She said it was a little disappointing leaving Ball State on such a note, but recruiting has become difficult not just for Ball State, but for all MAC teams because of the lack of funds available.
In retirement, Roth said she'll continue coaching part time for gymnastics clubs in Indianapolis, and she will judge gymnastics at different levels -- including college, but not for MAC schools or at Ball State meets because it would be unethical. She also hopes to return to Ball State next season as a spectator at the Cardinal Classic, and she said it will be strange watching from the stands.
During her career, Roth said she had opportunities to move to bigger schools with better-funded gymnastics programs, but she never left, saying, "I love Ball State."
"It was a really, really enjoyable time in my life," Roth said. "I have a lot of wonderful memories."
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