KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan gymnastics registered an exciting victory over Mid-American Conference rival Ball State on Sunday by a final score of 196.000 to 195.675. The Broncos also set a program record for most points in a season-opener, beating the previous record of 195.275 set in 2020.

"It was a complete team effort from the beginning of the meet all the way through the end," said head coach Penny Jernigan. "I believe it was our highest opening score in school history, so I am really proud of that. We had a couple of scenarios where the meet could have gone a completely different way, but our kids were amazing and had each other's backs. To be as young as we are with nine freshman, I'm just really proud."

The afternoon opened up with vault and uneven bars, while WMU began on vault, and Ball State started off on bars. Sophomore Sarah Moravansky got the Broncos off to a great start, tallying an individual score of 9.850 from both judges on vault. As a team, Western Michigan finished the vault posting a score of 48.850, while the Cardinals narrowly bested the Broncos in posting a 49.100.

On the uneven bars, WMU was led by junior Payton Murphy, who boosted her team with a 9.825, and Moravansky, who added a 9.800 to the Western Michigan cause as well. At the conclusion of rotation two, the Broncos and Cardinals were neck and neck, with WMU's 97.725 narrowly trailing Ball State's score of 97.950.

Next up were the beam and floor routines, with the Broncos starting rotation three on beam and the Cardinals getting things started on the floor. WMU bested Ball State on beam, holding a 0.2-point advantage by a tally of 49.075-48.875. Western Michigan received a spark from Payton Murphy, as well as freshman Halle Faulkner, who each gave their team 9.850 points via the beam.

On the floor, Murphy and Faulkner blazed a trail for WMU as both schools were at a count of 146.800 going into their respective final events. Murphy's floor effort earned her team a very important 9.925, while Faulkner added 9.875 to the Bronco campaign.

In addition to the team victory, several Broncos were victorious in their events, and three of the top four in the all-around results were members of Western Michigan. Payton Murphy took home the all-around crown with an individual total of 39.350 on the afternoon and taking home first place on the uneven bars (9.825) and floor exercise (9.925).

Sarah Moravanksy was close behind, placing second in the all-around results with a total score of 39.275 which included a first-place finish on vault (9.850) and a second place finish on uneven bars (9.800). Halle Faulkner finished things up for WMU, placing fourth overall in the all-around results with her 39.250 points while contributing second place finishes on balance beam (9.850) and floor exercise (9.875).
 
"Ball State is a very strong team, and I am really proud of what we did today," said Jernigan.

The Broncos host MAC foe Bowling Green on Sunday, Jan. 23 at 1 p.m. inside Read Fieldhouse. Admission is free of charge.