It will be a battle of the Midwest and the East Coast Thursday evening when the Ball State University gymnastics team travels to Lexington, Ky., for a 7 p.m. meeting against the universities of Kentucky, Illinois, North Carolina and the College of William and Mary.
The Cardinals (2-6, 1-5 Mid-American Conference) are fresh off their first conference victory of the season Sunday against Western Michigan University.
Three meets remain in Ball State's schedule until the MAC Championships, but there couldn't be a better way to prepare than to become engrossed in an atmosphere where four teams are competing at the same time, coach Nadalie Walsh said.
"It's going to be really good practice for us [for conference]," Walsh said. "We'll be able to look around and hear floor music all the time. We're going to be out of our element, and I'm excited because it will be a really good way for me to mentally gear them up for MAC [Championships]."
Another issue addressed by the Cardinals this week included the predicament of the balance beam and their five falls five days ago. It was addressed 131 times, to be exact.
"Between all the girls, we did [131] beam routines, so I expect to see them competing well," Walsh said. "I think they are even more ready than they were [a week] before."
Throughout the season, the Cardinals have faced multiple squads whose records merited national recognition. Thursday night they will get another dose of high-octane competition as No. 15 Illinois brings its 11-5 overall record to Lexington.
"I feel like it's our opportunity to go out there and show the gymnastics world that we can do what they [opponents] are doing," Walsh said. "The best thing about it is we're getting consistent with the same girls in the same order, and that's what we need. We need one girl after another to know who's competing and to know each other. They've gotten really intimate in terms of knowing what words they need to hear [during routines]."
Rounding out the field are Kentucky and William and Mary, bringing a combined 4-21 record to the meet, and North Carolina, coming off of three consecutive second place finishes in multi-team meets.
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