Gymnastics Team Opens Season With Intrasquad Meet

Dec. 20, 2002

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State gymnastics team opened the 2003 season with the annual Green and White Intrasquad Meet on Friday, Dec. 20, at Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Mich. In a close contest, the White Team edged out the Green Team, 114.600-114.325, claiming event titles on the vault, bars and floor.

Freshman Sarah Alexander (Kernersville, N.C.) made an impressive debut for the White team, claiming the top score on the vault (9.700) and floor (9.775) and finishing second on the uneven bars (9.675) and balance beam (9.700). Alexander also won the all-around title, finishing with a combined 38.850.

Senior Ilene Cohen (Wantagh, N.Y.) claimed the top score on the uneven bars, posting a 9.700, while sophomore Lauren Simpson (Linden, Mich.) earned first-place on the balance beam (9.750). Simpson finished the day as the second-highest scorer in the all-around, tallying a 38.325 total in the four events.

Rounding out the top three on the vault behind Alexander were sophomore Nicole Anderson (Kenosha, Wisc.), who finished in second-place (9.625), and Simpson, who claimed third (9.500). Senior Julie Devaty (North Olmstead, Ohio) took third on the uneven bars (9.600), behind Cohen and Alexander. Junior Lindsey Voth (Sarasota, Fla.) was the third-place finisher on the balance beam. Her 9.525 was only behind Simpson and Alexander. On the floor exercise, Alexander, Devaty and Anderson took the top three spots on the event.

Had this been a full-team meet, the Spartans, if combining the top five overall scores from each event, would have tallied a 191.950. Michigan State will open the regular season on Friday, Jan. 10, when they host the MSU Invitational. Oregon State and Auburn will join the Spartans for an 8 p.m. showdown at Jenison Field House.

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Players Mentioned

Sarah Alexander