PREVIEW: Ball State Gymnastics vs. No. 6 Kentucky
By Jack Williams / January 27, 2017Ball State gymnastics returns home this weekend to take on No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats one week after beating No. 25 North Carolina State.
Ball State gymnastics returns home this weekend to take on No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats one week after beating No. 25 North Carolina State.
For the second week in a row, Ball State gymnastics upset a ranked team.
Ball State gymnastics heads down south Jan. 20 to take on No. 25 North Carolina State and the College of William & Mary in a tri-meet in Raleigh, North Carolina.
While five Cardinals moved on individually to regionals last year for the first time since 2013, the entire team is looking to take that step as MAC Champions this season.
The gymnastics team has released its schedule for the 2016-17 season. The team will face off against three teams who broke the top 25 NCAA polls last season.
Ball State gymnastics had six members of the team travel to Iowa City, Iowa, for the NCAA regionals on April 1.
Ball State will be sending the most competitors to the NCAA Regionals in the program's history, barring the team’s 1999 performance. The 1999 season was different, however, since the Cardinals qualified as a whole team. This time, four individuals and two alternates qualified with individual season scores.
After three years of being an alternate at the NCAA regionals, senior gymnast Denasiha Christian will be competing in two individual events in the Iowa City Regional. Even with her first place performances on both floor and vault at the Mid-American Conference championships, Christian didn't think she would qualify individually for regional competition.
Ball State gymnastics led the Mid-American Conference, with 10 different athletes earning Academic All-MAC honors. To qualify for the Academic All-MAC team, student athletes must compete in at least half of their teams' events and maintain at least a 3.20 GPA.
The Ball State gymnastics season is not yet over, after a school record-setting 195.650 performance at the Mid-American Conference championship, the Cardinals will be sending five gymnasts onto regional competition.
Ball State gymnastics had five individual gymnasts qualify for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Iowa City Regional. The five gymnasts who will be competing at the University of Iowa on April 2 include: senior Denasiha Christian, juniors Sarah Ebeyer and Kayla Beckler, as well as sophomores Baylee Bell and Jordyn Penny. Throughout the 2016 regular season, each one of the Cardinals' qualifiers competed in at least two of the team's events at each meet. As a team, the Cardinals broke the school record in the Mid-American Conference Championships with a score of 195.650. At Regional's, these five gymnasts will compete individually.
Ball State gymnastics took second place at the Mid-American Conference Championships Saturday.
Ball State finished the 2016 Mid-American Conference Championships in second place with senior Denasiha Christian finishing first in both the vault and the beam.
Ball State University is hosting the Mid-American Conference Championship this year for women’s gymnastics. The seven gymnastics teams within the conference will gather in Worthen Arena for the big competition on March 19.
Worthen Arena will play host to the women's gymnastics Mid-American Conference on March 19. Ball State will compete against six other teams for the Championship. The other schools competing include Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan. While Ball State is 1-5 on the season against MAC opponents, the Cardinals have had several individuals finish among the top of the conference in individual categories. Senior Denasiha Christian holds the teams highest three scores on vault this season as well as the highest in the MAC with a 9.975.
Ball State gymnastics outgrew its previous home in Irving Gym, located in the Jo Ann Gora Student Recreation and Wellness Center, so it moved locations this season. The team now performs at Worthen Arena, like many other athletic teams at Ball State. “I was hoping that when we got down there, we would have more of an event-type atmosphere, and that has definitely happened,” head coach Joanna Saleem said. “You can turn the lights off and [make use of] the spotlights. I love that it is fun for the crowd to be able to participate. It is important for the fans to enjoy the event and want to come back”.
Siblings do not often get to compete against each other at the collegiate level, but two sisters from Greenwood, Ind., had that opportunity at Worthen Arena.
The Ball State University women’s gymnastics team competed in its second tri-meet of the weekend against Eastern Michigan University and Illinois State on Jan. 24, at Worthen Arena.
The Ball State Cardinals gymnastics team held its first official home meet on Jan. 17 at Worthen Arena against Towson. Coming into the match, Ball State was ranked 50th in the country, while Towson was 42nd.
Despite opening up the season with a road loss, gymnastics head coach Joanna Saleem looks to utilize the deeper pool of talent she saw in the individual performances during the first meet of the season.
