MUNCIE, Ind. — Ball State Gymnastics is on a nine-meet win streak as of Sunday February 15, 2026. This raises the question, what is making them so good?
While the skills of each gymnast at every meet play a huge role in their win streak, it’s what is happening before these meets that matters. Peer mentorship, especially in a sport like gymnastics, is very crucial to success. Helping create a long-lasting influential team environment.
Junior Ashley Szymanski touches on how special and rewarding it is for her to mentor and watch the underclassmen grow within the gymnastics program.
Freshman Ava Thurston expresses her gratitude towards the mentorship the upperclassmen have passed on.
“They have so much experience when it comes to competing in big arenas and just like under pressure. I think that they just really help calm our nerves.” Thurston says.
Syzmanski talks about her process of helping the younger girls by going through deep breaths and giving them pep talks with them one on one before and during meets.
“Just seeing them and then being reminded of the joy I feel doing gymnastics is just something amazing,” Szymanski said.
Gymnastics is a sport where your mentality affects your performance. So much goes through your mind before stepping out onto the beam or bars. Competing at a high level like college, especially coming from a club gymnastics program for these freshmen puts a lot of nerves and mental pressure. Having those upperclassmen teammates act as your older sisters makes the difference.
“It’s such a high pressure sport sometimes you always want to do your best and try your best to be perfect, so just having those people that know to calm you down and know what you need to do your best.” Thurston said.
For more information about Ball State Gymnastics, you can visit the Ball State Gymnastics athletics page for more information.
Contact Emma Bergman with comments at emma.bergman@bsu.edu.
