Douglas Advances to NCAA Men's Gymnastics Meet
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Though the Spartan men's gymnastics squad did not make the NCAA Championship meet as a team, senior Keith Douglas (Grand Rapids, Mich.) will represent the Green and White at the national championship meet in State College, Pa. by virtue of his individual performance at last weekend's NCAA Eastern Regional Championship meet at the University of Massachusetts.
Douglas hit a career-high 9.750 on the vault to finish second overall in the six-team meet. Douglas has been very consistent all season on the vault, averaging 9.648 through 12 meets. On March 28, he set a then-career high of 9.725 in the Spartans' final home meet versus Michigan.
Senior Ethan Sterk (Staten Island, N.Y.) and junior Kenny Baker (Flint, Mich.) were selected as alternates on the pommel horse while sophomore Mike Quarress (Huntington Beach, Calif.) will be an alternate on the vault. Sterk and Baker tied for eighth on the pommel horse at the regional meet with scores of 9.550. Quarress tied for seventh on the vault at the same meet with a 9.650.
Michigan State wrapped up its team season at the regional meet, placing seventh with a score of 234.425. The team set two school records; a 229.475 overall score and a 38.900 on the floor exercise. 1998 was the fifth time in the '90s that MSU has qualified for the regional championships.
Douglas competes on Thursday, April 16 at Penn State University.
