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(12/31/24 7:00pm)
Following the high of last season for Ball State Gymnastics, with a season record of 14-5-0 and placing second in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Gymnastics Championships, the team is preparing for its first meet of the upcoming season Jan. 3. With six new faces in the gym — five freshmen and one sophomore — the gymnasts have worked to build trust in themselves and one another as a team after a couple of their all-around competitors graduated in May. “We’ve had these young women working hard and developing routines, but you’re going to get to see some fresh faces in the competition lineup,” head coach Joanna Saleem said. “I think they’re super passionate about what they’re doing. We’ve just got to get to the point where we’re getting out on the floor and being confident.”Going into her 12th year coaching at Ball State, Saleem said each season throws the team things that are out of their control, so they aim to focus on things within their power. Things like setting goals and building trust in addition to their work in the gym. “You can set a goal all day long, and unless you break down how you're going to get to that goal and how to achieve it, you're really just kind of operating without an owner's manual,” Saleem said. “We talk about the day-to-day, and so for me, the expectation is this team needs to be the best version of this team.” The team got the chance to display their skills from practice in the annual Red vs. White scrimmage Dec. 9. Sophomore all-around Ashley Szymanski finished with the two highest scores of the night with a 9.875 on the uneven bars and a 9.850 on the balance beam. While she said she thinks her performance makes her more confident going into the season, scores aren’t the only thing the team’s focused on. “We don’t really look at scores very much, but I think knowing that helps me say, ‘OK, what I’ve been doing in the gym is working, it’s helping, so keep doing what I’m doing’” Szymanski said. Graduate student all-around Hannah Ruthberg, sophomore all-around Ava Molina and senior all-around Grace Sumner rounded out the top scorers. Ruthberg with 9.800 on the uneven bars, Molina 9.725 on both the balance beam and floor and Sumner with 9.800 on the bars.Overall, Ball State had 12 routines score 9.700 or higher in the scrimmage. “I definitely know that there's stuff to improve on,” she said. “But I got out there, I got my floor routines done and I did my best to kind of lead those lineups the best way I knew how.”Beyond acting as a snapshot of this year’s roster and the upcoming season, the scrimmage held personal importance to the Cardinals. “I feel like for me, it was really, really exciting to see our gymnastics in the arena because a lot of the times it's really hard to transfer the stuff that you do in practice into a crazy arena like that, like the beautiful, huge Worthen Arena,” Ruthberg said. “The team did a really good job of seamlessly transferring a lot of our gymnastics into that arena.”Going into its season, Ball State’s mainly focused on simple goals that’ll lead to the big picture and the personal goals of the gymnasts. The focus this year was integrating the new gymnasts into the team, while also developing the leadership of the returning gymnasts.“I want to leave this team [with], ‘If you want it, you can have it,’” Rutherberg said. “You have to take the steps to get there, obviously, but embracing those steps, even when things get hard, staying positive and having fun every step of the way makes it easier… if I can leave that with them and have everybody embrace the positivity, and then embrace the suck of when things get hard, this team is just going to keep getting better and better.”Saleem has seen the upperclassmen step up and help their incoming teammates acclimate saying they’ve done a “phenomenal job” of guiding the team into the season. She said the thing that brings her back to loving her job is watching the development of the team every year and recognizing that “it’s a really hard thing to be a student athlete. “They make a lot of sacrifices,” she said. “It takes a really special kind of person to come into that striving for perfection mentality. So for me, to look at them and see them being happy and developed and grow as they are getting ready to go out into the real world and the workforce, to me, that’s something I really enjoy, and that’s my goal: ‘How do I make you a better version of yourself?’”The season officially begins Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. with a quad meet at the University of Missouri. The season-opening meet will be against Illinois State, Southeast Missouri State and the University of Missouri. The first home-quad meet will be Jan. 12 at 1 p.m. in Worthen Arena against University of Illinois, Southeast Missouri State and Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Contact Ella Howell via email at ella.howell@bsu.edu.Contact Hannah Amos via email at hannah.amos@bsu.edu or on X @Hannah_Amos_394.
(12/31/24 5:00pm)
The Ball State Daily News will use this program to honor athletes who had an impressive week or a breakout performance. Candidates will be chosen and the community can cast their votes.
(12/30/24 5:41pm)
Is your heart getting the care it deserves? We often ignore our heart health until it demands attention. Your heart works without resting for a second. So, why not show it some love?
(12/30/24 1:02am)
Delta junior boys’ basketball player Lucas Bragg was voted the Delaware County Athlete of the Week from Monday, Dec. 16 to Saturday, Dec. 21. In the Eagles’ 49-46 overtime-win over Muncie Central, Bragg led the blue and gold with 16 points.
(12/29/24 9:38pm)
Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, has died at 100, according to the Associated Press (AP).
(12/29/24 3:38am)
MUNCIE, Ind – To end the two-day Holiday Classic at Delta High School, the Delta Eagles and Muncie Central Bearcats played in the event’s final two contests Saturday evening. After the gym emptied and the scoreboard was officially shut off, the blue and gold were named the champions while the purple and black finished in third place. Here’s how the action went down. Third-Place Game: Muncie Central vs Scecina After the first round on Friday, Muncie Central head coach Justin Ullom said he wanted his team to play all four quarters and not fall into the trap of selfish play. While it was a little closer than the Bearcats preferred, the purple and black defeated Scecina 36-34. This earned them a third-place finish in the event. While the Bearcats began the game by scoring 16 points in the first quarter, they only added 20 in the final three periods. In the fourth quarter, it was clear to the coaching staff that Muncie Central’s defense needed to step up to win the match. With multiple underclassmen on the roster, defense is something the Bearcats have tried to prioritize in practice. “They’re learning every play,” Ullom said. “…It’s tough every day, but it's exciting.” In the end, the Bearcats did just that. After back-to-back timeouts and forcing a five-second call turnover, the purple and black never lost their edge to capture their second win of the event. “You get out there on the floor and we switched defenses in the last 13 seconds, made a foul and got a five-second call,” Ullom said. “That's a pretty good focus.”Four players scored eight points in the win — Junior Shemar Taylor, freshman Jaxon Johnson, junior Landen Wells and freshman Carlos Echols Jr. To Taylor, this kind of game is important to the team's development. “They feel like [these games] give a lot of pressure,” Taylor said. “I just tell them to take it in … and I feel like they did [today].” Muncie Central will next play at Jay County Saturday, Jan. 4 at 7:30 p.m. Championship Game: Delta vs Providence Going into the championship game, the Eagles knew they had a difficult task with Providence as the Pioneers were one of the top 10 Class 2A teams in the state with a 6-0 record. “This is a really good basketball team,” Delta head coach Mark Detweiler said. “They came in undefeated and were a tough out.” But the highly skilled opponent did not scare the blue and gold as the Eagles started strong and used solid defense throughout the final three quarters to defeat the Pioneers 45-26, which allowed them to become the 2024 Holiday Classic champions. “I’m really proud because we sent that message of ‘We’re not going anywhere’ and they showed that they belong as a new Delta team with a new identity,” Detweiler said.
(12/28/24 6:50am)
MUNCIE, Ind – Delta High School was the site of the Holiday Classic for the third time in four seasons. Two Delaware County teams – Delta and Muncie Central – competed in the event, and in Friday’s first round, the Eagles booked themselves in the championship game while the Bearcats played well enough to appear in Saturday’s third-place game. Here’s how the day unfolded for the two area programs. Delta: 2-0The Eagles played the second game of the day and looked to continue their six-game winning streak. To do that, they had to face Fort Wayne South Side, which featured a taller lineup than the blue and gold have seen this season. It was something Delta head coach Mark Detweiler took note of before the contest began. But despite losing the eye test, the Eagles continued their good play and defeated the Archers 54-49. “That’s a good quality win… They've had a good year so far coming in with one loss,” Detweiler said. “We knew rebounding and points in the paint were gonna be big.” After eight straight points from senior Chase Ritchie, the Eagles were in the driver’s seat to begin the contest. But the Archers did not stay silent as they led 16-14 at the end of the first quarter. A few minutes into the second quarter, they led 24-14 as the Eagles could not locate any momentum on offense.“I just didn't think we played with real grit in the first half,” Detweiler said. “I thought aw just kind of let them run their stuff.” However, the second half was when the blue and gold found their rhythm as they seemed to be more aggressive. Deflections, a faster pace of offense, and all-around better play around the basketball did the trick as the Eagles went on to take the win. “If there was a way to gauge the amount of fuel they used in the first half and the amount of fuel we used in our tank in the second half,” Detweiler said. “We used a lot more than we did in the first half.” One of the other factors was the performance of senior Bronson Edwards, who led the team with 14 points. “In the first half, I thought I was playing hard, and in reality, I just wasn't playing that hard,” Edwards said. In the second half, I was just a lot more active.” Edwards, junior Lucas Bragg and senior Jordan Furney all scored in double figures – Bragg and Furney both had 12 points. This was something Detweiler wanted his team to work on throughout the event. In Delta’s second game of the day, the Eagles took on Scecina and hoped to get a berth in the championship game. While the first quarter was competitive, the second quarter was something else. “That was a good quarter, wasn’t it?” Detweiler asked. In the period, the Eagles went on a 19-4 scoring run and jumped out to a halftime lead of 35-19. Following that, it was all Delta as the blue and gold topped the Crusaders 63-41. Bragg led the Eagles with 17 points while Edwards added 16. “We had gotten away from who we were earlier and they fixed it,” Detweiler said. “They were able to kind of reel themselves back in and get back into our moves.” The Eagles will play Providence in Saturday’s title game. It will start at 8 p.m. Muncie Central: 1-1Coming into their first game of the event, the Bearcats were on a three-game losing streak and in their last game, suffered an overtime loss to Delta. Muncie Central head coach Justin Ullom said after the game his team needed to find something. In their first game of the Holiday Classic, they did just that, knocking off Columbia City 57-52. “It always makes it fun when you hold on and win the game,” Ullom said. “We made some big three throws and had really strong shooting in the second half.”While multiple players impacted the game, the top Bearcat was freshman Jaxon Johnson, who led the purple and black with 22 points. But it wasn’t his scoring that impressed his head coach. “We need the scoring, but the reason Jackson Johnson gets a whole lot of minutes is because he's been arguably our best defender in most games,” Ullom said.While Muncie Central opened the game with a 9-2 lead, the Eagles were not bothered as they turned the table and only trailed 31-29 at halftime. But in the second half, Johnson’s positive performance continued to shine as he knocked down multiple free throws late in the game. In Muncie Central’s second game of the day against Providence, the Bearcats started where they left off, jumping to a 13-6 lead. However, things changed in the second quarter as the purple and black started to struggle. “They are tough and physical, and we expected that, but something switched with our shot selection,” Ullom said. “I thought a whole lot of good work over the last week and a half to two weeks of sharing the ball and hunting great shots turned into ‘It’s my turn to shoot.” After halftime, it was even more noticeable as the Bearcats only scored eight points as they fell to Providence 38-25. Due to that, they will play in the third-place game tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. Ullom wants to see improvement in multiple areas. “I want energy for all four quarters,” he said. “You see that by them talking to each other, giving touches, communicating on defense, all that stuff.” Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85.
(12/24/24 4:14pm)
Christmas carols play softly in the background among pine trees wrapped with colored lights and silver tinsel scattered among the branches creating an ambience while you wait in a line to see a man dressed in red with a long, white beard.
(12/24/24 2:54am)
YORKTOWN, Ind — From the beginning of Monday’s game against Hoosier-Heritage Conference opponent Pendleton Heights, Yorktown head coach Leigh Ann Barga wasn’t sure if her team’s mindset was in the right place. ”We weren't ready from the tip,” Barga said. “Offensively, we struggled in every aspect. We just gotta pick our heads up.” After falling to the Arabians 69-50, the Tigers said the same thing. “I definitely think we had a couple of communication errors,” Junior Lilly Sylvester said. “…We missed some cues there, a lot of it was just unforced errors.” With the Tigers only featuring one senior in Claire Hazen, the green and white believe games like this can be important for developing a good team. With Arabian’s senior Kaycie Warfel — the program’s all-time scorer — leading the way with 23 points, it was tough competition Yorktown had to defend. But even with the young roster, Yorktown sits at 6-4 and showed flashes of potential in the game. Sophomore Olivia Conklin led with 21 while junior Lilly Sylvester added nine. However, an Arabian’s 21-7 second quarter performance became the difference maker. “I feel like we're building right now,” Conklin said. “We’re just getting started.” According to Barga, one way for the team to continue building a solid foundation is to look at Hazen’s work ethic. ”That girl never complains,” Barga said. She comes in to practice and she works her tail off.
She’s not gonna go out there and score 25 points. That's not who Claire does, but what she will do is guard the toughest player and give all she's got.” Hazen — who competed on Yorktown’s volleyball team the last four years and played in the Class 4A State Championship game last fall — is someone the Tigers have used to be the glue player on and off the court. “She's my favorite person to be around,” Sylvester said. “She's always got a smile on her face. She could hit her head on the floor and she'd laugh it off.“ But to Hazen herself, she’s tried to be a leader in the simplest way: with her play. “I try to lead by example a lot,” she said. “I think I need to do a better job, maybe becoming more of a vocal leader.” The Tigers want to use the rest of the season for growth. However, they also want to find success. To them, both can go hand in hand. “We are young, but at one point, you gotta stop using that as an excuse,” Barga said. “We have some girls that have gotten a lot of playing time… but the game is fast and they’re learning. They all are.” The Tigers will search for the win column when they face Triton Central Friday, Dec. 27 at 10 a.m.Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85.
(12/23/24 11:31pm)
The Ball State Daily News will use this program to honor athletes who had an impressive week or a breakout performance. Candidates will be chosen and the community can cast their votes.
(12/23/24 3:04pm)
If you've ever been harmed by a product, a drug, or corporate negligence, you know how scary the thought of going against a powerful corporation is.
(12/22/24 3:32pm)
One of President-elect Donald Trump 's most popular talking points during his campaign centered on the future of transgender athletes.
(12/22/24 3:45am)
Muncie, Ind – Before the Delta Eagles and Muncie Central Bearcats competed at the Muncie Central Fieldhouse Saturday evening, Delta head coach Mark Detweiler approached Bearcats’ head coach Justin Ullom. “I told coach Ullom before the game that [the Bearcats] are close to turning the corner,” Detweiler said. He wasn’t totally wrong as the Bearcats (1-5) gave everything they had to knock down the visiting Eagles (6-1). However, after having to play an extra period of basketball, the blue and gold held on to find the win column, defeating the purple and white 49-46. “It was a good time,’’ Delta junior Lucas Bragg said. “It was the most fun I've ever had playing basketball in my life.”The game did not start in the favor of the blue and gold as the Bearcats jumped out to a 10-6 lead. For the rest of the first half, the two teams used great defense to force bad shots and other mistakes. To Detweiler, it’s what he expected as the Bearcats led 19-17 at halftime. “It was typical Muncie Central - Delta basketball,” Detweiler said. “It was ugly basketball… There's no other way to describe it. We bring out the worst in each other as far as execution.” Coming out of the break, Delta went on a 6-0 run to steal the lead. Ullom said in the last few games, this is where the Bearcats’ main issues began. “About that three games ago, when we went down eight, it'd have [turned] into 14,” he said. That wasn’t the case tonight. The Bearcats answered with a run of their own and forced the Eagles to play their best basketball. Heading into the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, the blue and gold trailed 41-37. But at the 1:24 mark, sophomore Lucas Brag – who led the Eagles with 16 points and scored 14 of those in the second half and overtime – attempted a 3-pointer and was fouled. The ball found the bottom of the net, and after hitting the foul shot, it was a tied game at 41-41. "It was honestly probably the biggest moment that I've had so far in my career,” Bragg said. “...It gave me confidence.”
(12/21/24 10:26pm)
Though Ball State head coach Michael Lewis has publicly criticized his team this season, the last two games have had the third-year Cardinals’ head coach in a better mood. First, it was last week’s 86-82 win at Bellarmine and now, it was today’s 80-43 – the Cardinals' lowest point total allowed – victory over the visiting Evansville Purple Aces. What changed? To Lewis, guys are getting out of their own way and playing as a unit. “As crazy as it sounds, we've had to practice communication and talking,” he said. “I thought that was much better, especially in the first half.” The last two games have featured a new starting lineup which featured junior guard Jemahri Hill, junior guard Juanse Gorosito, sophomore forward Mason Jones, graduate student guard Jeremiah Hernandez and redhirt senior Ben Hendriks. But Lewis said it doesn't matter who starts.“I think the two least important things in basketball are the starting lineup and the halftime score,” he said. But while the starting lineup – Hill had 13 points, eight rebounds and three dunks – has managed to play well, so has the bench. Senior center Payton Sparks – who started the first nine games of the season and was named to the preseason All-Mid-American Conference (MAC) First Team – was one of those sent to the bench. In today’s win over the Purple Aces, he looked recharged, leading the Cardinals (5-6) with 20 points – a season high – and was 10-for-12 at the free throw line. “At this point in the season, we're trying to find ways to win,” Sparks said. “I just wanted to help the team. [Whether] it’s defense or scoring, whatever, my teammates put me in good spots.” The Cardinals have only played three games in December, and because of that, the red and white have spent much of their time together during practice. Lewis has used this to work out the kinks and figure out how to get Ball State in the win column. “I think we're developing some consistency too,” Lewis said. “Both collectively and individually. We've tried to create some situations in practice to turn up the heat and raise the competition to see what that looks like. We've had guys respond, so I couldn't be happier with how we’ve competed.”Most of the intensity has been focused on defense, according to Hill. In today's game, his defensive play was noticed as he notched four steals – a season high – and a block. “[It’s] been our focus in practice. This whole month has been defense, defense and defense,” he said. “So I just had to put a little more energy into that today… It's just really doing whatever it takes to win.” With the Cardinals winning their second set of back-to-back wins this season, it’s something the team isn’t taking lightly. After the loss to SIU Edwardsville Dec. 8, Hendriks – who had 10 points and four rebounds against the Purple Aces – said the Cardinals needed ‘a fire’ to spread through the entire team. Lewis thinks winning is the one way to light a spark. “Anytime you win, it builds confidence [and] I think confidence can build winning. It goes back and forth,” Lewis said. “I think we were able to learn some things, especially some things that we have to correct… Learning what winning plays are, what losing plays are and how to eliminate the losing plays.”The Cardinals will play their final non-MAC game Tuesday, Dec. 31 against Anderson in Muncie. While there are things Lewis wants his team to work on for that game, there’s one thing that takes precedence over basketball: the holiday season. “I’m just trying to get to Christmas,” Lewis said, chuckling. “...They’ve earned this time off.” Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85.
(12/21/24 5:00pm)
“It’s just a down[ward] spiral,” Dominick says.
(12/21/24 3:29am)
SELMA, Ind – Even though the Wapahani Raiders have been a good shooting team to start the 2024-25 season, tonight’s 74-35 victory over Mid-Eastern Conference (MEC) foe Wes-Del still surprised Raiders’ junior guard Camden Bell.“I know every night when we come in and we do what we do, it's always a little bit surprising,” Bell said.While the team finished with 15 3-pointers, Bell himself added to the total as he hit six shots – and led with 24 total points – from beyond the ark. Senior Nate Luce followed with 16 points and four 3-pointers of his own. “When your alpha guy like Bell is willing to give the ball up to people, it makes everyone else around him better,” Wapahani head coach Matt Luce said. The Raiders’ shots were falling early as the red and white jumped out to a 21-5 lead in the first quarter. At halftime, they led Wes-Del 39-11. “Those guys have won a lot of games throughout their high school career and they're continuing that this season,” Wes-Del head coach Josh Burkett said. “...They've played really good opponents and are just a good team.”
(12/21/24 4:00pm)
Meghan Sawitzke is a junior journalism major and writes “Acts of Random Kindness” for The Daily News. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.
(12/20/24 1:44pm)
According to an article from the Ball State Communication Center, starting Jan. 6, 2024, patrons will be able to choose from the following:
(12/20/24 2:49am)
Ball State head coach Brady Sallee said game plans do not always go well, but they did perfectly against Anderson University. The Cardinals defeated the Ravens 112-35, breaking a 49-year-old program record for the largest margin of victory. The 77-point win dethrones the 61-point win against Taylor University in 1975. Ball State wraps up its non-conference stint going 8-4, with one win against a Power 5 opponent (Texas A&M in the Battle 4 Atlantis). The Cardinals will now shift their attention to Miami (OH). Ball State will ring in the New Year against a Mid-American Conference (MAC) foe. Sallee said he has no question of what the 2024-25 Ball State women’s basketball team is after wrapping up a tough non-conference schedule against multiple ranked opponents. “We don't have to hope or worry about what it's going to look like,” Sallee. “That's the good news.”Freshman Grace Kingery said the physicality of the non-conference games has prepared the Cardinals to battle through it all. Kingery was a starter for the second game in a row, stepping up with senior Madelyn Bischoff sidelined due to injury. And battle through things the Cardinals have done. Ball State is dealing with two starters still out of the lineup (Bischoff and senior Alex Richard) and has had to pivot with their injuries. Graduate student Elise Stuck said Ball State has been doing a good job of moving different pieces around and still getting the same results even though players are hurt. “I'm proud of the group because we've not just had a couple of injuries, we've had three starters out at different points,” Sallee said. “...That's not easy to step in and just do what they did.”Sallee said there were a few moments of wondering what would work best, but everyone was more focused on a next-man-up mentality. “You think about two potential all-conference kids being out of your lineup for the amount they've been out of it, we haven't missed a beat,” Sallee said. Sallee said he has his fingers crossed to get Richard and Bischoff back for the Jan. 1 conference tip-off but does not want to put any expectations on when they will return to the floor.Sallee and the Cardinals know the product that is on the court, now he said Ball State has to know how to amp it up for the rest of the conference slate. “I love the toughness of the team, [and] I love the depth of the team,” Sallee said. “We're not a one-trick pony. We can score in a lot of different ways with a lot of different people.”Sallee hit on three places where he wants to see the Cardinals improve before MAC play begins. He wants to see Ball State be a better offensive-rebounding team, play without fouling (in certain situations) and improve on shooting. Sallee said there have been times the Cardinals have shot well but need to knock down 3-pointers. He said all three of those key points are within razor-thin margins, but margins that can make a difference. “We're going to have to beat the other teams to our weaknesses and improve on them before they can get exploited,” Sallee said. Ball State finished 16-2 in the 2023 MAC schedule and fell to eventual champion Kent State in the second round of the MAC Tournament. The Cardinals never lost a MAC game at home. “We are super aware there is a target on our back, and that is how we have to approach every single game,” Stuck said. Contact Elijah Poe via email at elijah.poe@bsu.edu or on X @ElijahPoe4.
(12/19/24 8:13pm)
Indiana Michigan Power says it is extending its Muncie transmission line project along Tillotson Avenue into summer 2025. This includes lane restrictions on the major road.
