Ball State University went head to head with Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, Illinois Sunday. The Cardinals defeated the other Mid-American Conference (MAC) team during Northern Illinois’ final home meet of the season. Ball State ended the day 196.100-194.575 leading in each event. 

The meet started off strong for the Cardinals on bars with no Ball State gymnast scoring lower than 9.725 points. Freshman Ashely Szymanski and graduate student Megan Teter tied with Northern Illinois senior Alyssa Al-Shari for the highest score on bars with 9.875 points. 

Szymanski is known for her excellence on bars, having a high of 9.975 points in the event. She is ranked first for bars in the MAC and 21st nationally. Teter received a perfect score on bars earlier in the season at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic.

The Huskies put up a good fight on bars, but Ball State won the event 49.075-49.000.  

Despite vault being Northern Illinois’ highest ranked event at No. 38 in the nation, they couldn’t beat the Cardinals and ended 48.725-49.175. Ball State is No. 19 nationally for vault, which is their same ranking for bars. 

Senior Suki Pfister conquered vault with an end score of 9.925 points. Pfister gained great height and stuck her landing to receive the most points in the event. 

It was a good meet for Pfister with her also ranking the best in floor overall. Ball State had the three highest scores for floor, with Pfister leading at 9.875 points. Pfister’s height, confidence and control helped her stand out. 

Teter also continued to do well against the Huskies. The graduate student ended with 9.850 points on floor, and she ended with the highest all-around score of the night: 39.175 points. 

The meet ended similarly for floor as Northern Illinois fell 48.625-48.875.

Despite beam being Ball State’s lowest ranked event, the Cardinals had the largest difference in overall scores with Northern Illinois on the balance beam. Ball State finished their final event of the day 48.975-48.225, a .750 point difference. 

The Cardinals had the two best beam scores. Szymanski had the second-highest score of the event with 9.825 points. Szymanski looked confident on the beam, performing high leaps and a strong cartwheel to a split jump. Junior Grace Sumner finished the meet off with a solid routine and led at 9.850 points.

The lowest score of the event was sophomore Zoe Middleton’s 9.525, which was still much higher than the Huskies’ lowest result; Northern Illinois freshman Isabella Ross earned 9.050 points. 

Overall, Ball State had a strong meet, especially after their previous quad meet at Penn State University where they lost to Penn State and Towson University 195.875-196.825 and 195.875-196.775, respectively. 

The Cardinals will return home to Worthen Arena next week to compete against Eastern Michigan University at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 17. This will be Ball State’s senior day, and the final meet of the season before Ball State hosts the MAC Championships March 23.

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