Michigan State University Athletics
Gymnastics Opens Season At Home Friday
1/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 6, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
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A LOOK AT THE WEEK AHEAD - The Spartans (0-0) open the 2004 gymnastics season against tough competition on Friday, Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. Western Michigan joins Louisiana State and Arizona, which are ranked 15th and 19th, respectively, in the preseason GymInfo coaches' poll, in which all collegiate gymnastics coaches have the opportunity to vote. Friday's meet is the first of the season for all four teams competing in the quadrangular.
CHECKING OUT ARIZONA - Ranked No. 19 in the preseason poll, Arizona returns 12 letterwinners from its 2003 squad that posted a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Regional. The Wildcats finished sixth in the Pac-10 with a 2-12 record. Head coach Bill Ryden is in his sixth season at Arizona, where he has posted a 56-82-1 record in that time. The Wildcats have a 3-0 record all-time against MSU. The teams' last meeting was in 1991.
CHECKING OUT LOUISIANA STATE - LSU, currently ranked No. 15, returns 12 letterwinners. The Tigers finished 10th at the NCAA Championships in 2003, and were 18-15 overall in 2003. D-D Breaux is in her 27th season at LSU, where she has posted a 428-270-7 record. The Tigers hold an 8-2 record against State, including a four-meet winning streak. LSU and MSU last met in 2001.
CHECKING OUT WESTERN MICHIGAN - Western Michigan, led by seniors Julia Haines-LaPenta, Laura Ransing and Christy Sassic, returns 15 letterwinners for the 2004 season. WMU was 7-8 overall in 2003, and 1-5 in the MAC. Coach Terry Karwoski is in her sixth season at Western. The Spartans hold a 38-0 record against Western Michigan, a streak that dates to State's first year of competition in 1974. WMU is one of four teams against which the Spartans are at least 5-0 all-time.
TOUGH 2004 SCHEDULE - MSU faces eight teams ranked among the GymInfo preseason coaches poll, including No. 15 LSU and No. 19 Arizona, Friday. The Big Ten boasts five teams in the top 25, as Michigan (No. 10), Iowa (No. 14), Ohio State (No. 16) and Minnesota (No. 23) have been tabbed among the best teams in the nation. State is ranked No. 35.
ALEXANDER STARS IN FRESHMAN YEAR - Sarah Alexander not only recorded five of the top 15 all-time all-around scores in 2003, but she also added two floor scores and one vault score. On floor, she tied the top score ever at MSU (9.975). She was State's highest finisher in each event except vault at the NCAA Regional. She took fifth on floor, sixth in the all-around, 11th on bars and 19th on beam. Though she didn't go on to compete, her sixth-place all-around finish meant Alexander qualified as an alternate for the NCAA National Championships.
PRE-SEASON RANKINGS - The Spartans were not ranked in the 2004 preseason coaches poll, but received votes that would place them 34th in the country.
QUALIFIED RETURNEES - The Spartans return eight letterwinners from last year's squad, including 2003 All-Big Ten selections Sarah Alexander (first team) and Lauren Simpson (second team).
TEAM RECORDS SET IN 2003 - MSU posted the best overall team score in MSU history in the 2003 season, with a 196.575 against Michigan and Pittsburgh on March 22. The previous record of 196.375 had stood since March 14, 1998.
2003 INDIVIDUAL SUCCESS LED TO... - Spartans recorded scores that broke into the top 10 event scores of all-time. Freshman Sarah Alexander posted the second-best all-time scores in the all-around (39.425) and floor (9.975).
2003 TEAM SUCCESS - The Spartan gymnasts set a school record with a team score of 196.575 against Michigan and Pittsburgh on March 22, 2003. That score helped pace State to an average team score of 194.581 on the season. The Spartans also entered five other marks in the top 25 team scores all-time at MSU, and added 21 more scores to the all-time top 25 lists of vault, bars, beam and floor scores.
SPARTAN INVITATIONAL STREAK CONTINUES - The 2003 gymnasts won their fourth consecutive Spartan Invitational title, as MSU defeated Illinois on Feb. 22 in Jenison Field House, 194.900-193.600.
HUGE WIN IN 2003 - State's 195.075-193.900 win against Michigan at the State of Michigan Classic in Jenison Field House on Feb. 2 last year marked the first time in more than four years that UM lost to a Big Ten team. The Spartans' win snapped Michigan's streak of 40 consecutive wins against Big Ten opponents.
SMART OUTSIDE THE GYM, TOO - The Spartans' team grade-point average of 3.469 was the 10th best in the nation, and seven gymnasts earned National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W) Academic All-American honors in 2003. 2003 senior Ilene Cohen became just the second Spartan to earn NACGC/W academic honors in each of her four years at State. Teammates Julie Devaty, Anna Hunsinger, Lauren Simpson and Lindsey Voth were all repeat honorees, while Diana Crea and Leia Langhoff made the list for the first time in their careers. Additionally, eight Spartans - Cohen, Devaty, Hunsinger, Kristin Merritt, Kristina Peterson, Simpson, Voth and Jennifer Yarbrough - were named to the 2003 Academic All-Big Ten team.
REGIONAL STRENGTH - State competes in one of the toughest regions in the country in the Central Region, with regional teams from Alabama, LSU, Ohio State and Auburn.
RECAPPING THE GREEN & WHITE MEET - The Spartans held their annual intrasquad Green & White meet on Dec. 20. The Green team scored 189.250 to the White team's 187.675. Were the top five individual scores in each event combined as if in intercollegiate competition, the Spartans would have had a team score of 193.150. Sarah Alexander posted an all-around score of 39.050, while Lindsey Voth recorded 38.150 and freshman Victoria Iakounina was third with a 38.075. A combined result would have given MSU a team vault score of 48.375, a bars score of 47.75, a beam score of 48.575 and a floor score of 48.45. Freshman Chayla HIll claimed the vault title with a 9.775, while Alexander won each of the other events, with 9.8s on bars and floor and a 9.85 on beam.
HEAD COACH Kathie Klages - Head coach Kathie Klages (Central Michigan '77) is in her 14th season at the helm of Michigan State gymnastics. In that time, she has posted a 215-102-2 record, good for a .682 winning percentage. Her teams have participated in seven NCAA Regional Championships in her time at State, including 2002 and 2003. In 2003, MSU finished fifth at the regional. Klages was named NCAA Central Region Coach of the Year in 2000, 1998, 1996 and 1993. She earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors in 1996. She is a member of the National Association of Women's Gymnastics Judges and holds a National ranking.
