No. 19 Gymnasts Host Hobie's Spartan Invitational
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Feb. 16, 1998
NEXT UP: The Spartans host the ninth annual Hobie s Spartan Invitational in Jenison Field House on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. This year s participants are New Hampshire, Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green State.
HOBIE'S PREVIEW: Begun in 1990, the Invitational has had four different winners: Michigan State (1990, 92, 93, 95, 96), Florida (1991), Penn State (1994) and Oregon State (1997).
This marks the first Hobie's Spartan Invitational for Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan while New Hampshire has competed in the meet every even year since the event s inauguration (1990, 92, 94, 96, 98).
*Bowling Green is 2-6 in 1998. The Falcons will compete against conference rival Eastern Michigan for the second-straight meet after defeating the Eagles last weekend, 188.150-187.850. BGSU s season-high score of 188.150 came on Feb. 14 versus Eastern Michigan.
*Eastern Michigan has a season record of 1-4. The Eagles competed at Bowling Green last weekend, losing 187.850-188.150. EMU s high score of 189.625 came at Kent State University on Jan. 30.
*New Hampshire enters the competition ranked No. 22 in the country with a 6-3 record. The Wildcats will compete Central Michigan on Friday, Feb. 20. Last weekend the team traveled to Massachusetts, losing 191.125-193.325. New Hampshire s high score of 193.250 came as the team won the Fox Run Invitational on Feb. 7.
Series Records: vs. Bowling Green - State is 9-1 in meets with the Falcons. The Spartans have won the last seven in a row in the series. vs. Eastern Michigan - MSU is 18-1 over Eastern Michigan. EMU won the last meeting between the two teams in 1997. vs. New Hampshire - The Spartans are 10-5 over New Hampshire. UNH won the last meeting between the two schools in 1997.
MSU DEFEATS FIRST BIG TEN OPPONENT: The Spartans raised their record to 15-2, 1-2 with decisive wins over Iowa and Missouri on Sat., Feb. 14 at Iowa. MSU turned in the third-highest score of the season at 193.050, outdistancing Iowa (191.725) and Missouri (188.100). It was Michigan State s highest road score of the year and the teams first Big Ten win. Elisabeth Forshier won the vault for the fourth time this season with a score of 9.825. Carolyn Hecht (9.775) and Kristin Peugeot (9.700) finished one-two on the beam while Polly Kiker took second on the bars (9.850) and tied for third on the floor (9.750). Hecht also finished third on the bars (9.825). Erin Mullen took second in the all-around competition with a 38.450.
BAR SEVEN: MSU s team bars score of 48.850 vs. Iowa and Missouri was the eighth-best in school history.
THE RANKINGS: As of Feb. 10, MSU was ranked 19th in the country (rankings are by overall average scores.). New rankings will be available on Wednesday morning.
Head Coach Kathie Klages: The fourth coach in Spartan history, Kathie Klages (Central Michigan, 77) has a 130-56-1 (.698) record in her eighth year as Michigan State s head coach. Under her tutelage, three Spartan teams have advanced to the NCAA Regionals, finishing as high as fourth in 1996. In 1997, MSU won the National Invitational Tournament.
