Dear Colleagues:     

   During May and June, several of Ball State University’s athletic teams and athletes competing individually have achieved top awards, honors, championships, and opportunities to compete on a national level:

    Below are details on these outstanding sports achievements, plus other stories, I hope you enjoy and then share. Let your friends and colleagues know how “We Fly” at Ball State.

Sincerely,

Geoffrey S. Mearns
President
Ball State University

Ball State University senior Charity Griffith captured first place in the high jump at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on June 10 in Austin, Texas—bringing Ball State its first national championship title since 1999. She went into this NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships as the two-time defending Mid-American Conference (MAC) high jump champion.

Ball State junior Jenelle Rogers also finished fifth in the heptathlon at the NCAA Championships. Ms. Rogers’ 6,018 heptathlon points set another school record and her finish in the heptathlon was the best ever by a Ball State athlete.

Read more about these two NCAA All-American performances in this Ball State Athletics press release.

Below are highlights of other major successes, victories, and accolades earned by Ball State’s athletic teams and individual athletes over the last month:

Ball State University was awarded the 2023 Jacoby Trophy, presented annually by the Mid-American Conference (MAC) to the school whose women’s teams placed first in the league’s cumulative standings. Ball State men’s teams finished second overall—their best standing since 2013—for the Reese Trophy, which is awarded to the top MAC men’s athletic program. Ball State’s first- and second-place finishes in all-sports standings marked our University’s best combined finish since 2001.

Ball State’s baseball team won the MAC Tournament. Also, the team qualified for the NCAA baseball tournament for just the fourth time in school history.

The women’s tennis team made its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, after earning a second-straight MAC Tournament team title.

Following a second-place finish in the MAC, Ball State’s men’s golf team was one of 13 participants in the first-ever National Golf Invitational (NGI), invited as one of the nation’s best teams outside of the NCAA Tournament field. Sophomore Kash Bellar was the NGI’s individual champion, recording the first tournament title of his college career.

Follow Ball State Athletics news online year-round.

Ball State University earned Program of the Year honors as part of the inaugural EsportsU Collegiate Awards, a new national recognition program. The announcement was made during a May 6-7 event at Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Ball State’s Esports program was selected the best among more than 3,000 academic institutions in the nation represented by EsportsU, a business vertical of Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG), an integrated sports and entertainment media company.

The varsity Esports program at Ball State began as part of its College of Communication, Information, and Media in January 2021—with Ball State becoming a founding member of the Esports Collegiate Conference. In April 2021, Ball State officially opened its state-of-the-art Esports Center within the Robert Bell Building on campus. 

There are more than 800 students participating in Ball State’s student-run Esports Club. That includes more than 50 student-athletes on its varsity Esports team, led by Dan Marino, Esports director at Ball State and head coach of the University’s Esports varsity team. 

Read more in this Ball State press release.

Ball State University will receive $81 million from the State of Indiana to renovate several of the University’s academic buildings as part of the North Campus Building Renovation project.

As a result of the state’s approval of Ball State’s principal capital request, the University’s Board of Trustees on May 5 approved the scope and budget for the North Campus Building Renovation project. This project will support needed improvements on several academic buildings, including University Theatre, the Hargreaves Music Building, the Arts and Communication Building, and the Architecture Building—which houses the R. Wayne Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning.

In addition to the functional needs of these buildings, the renovations will address programmatic issues that are curtailing the success and future growth of academic programs housed within these facilities.

Two alumni of Ball State’s College of Communication, Information and Media and a University Media Service staff member were named Emmy Award winners by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Central Great Lakes Chapter (CGL). A gala was held on June 17 as part of the 54th Annual CGL Emmy Awards to reveal all of this year’s CGL Emmy Award Winners and recognize the nominees. Three CCIM faculty members were among the nominees.

CGL Emmy Awards Winners from CCIM:

Other CGL Emmy Award Nominees from CCIM:

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