Spartan Sports Roundup
2/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | General
Feb. 11, 2009
Spartan Sports Roundup provides a brief overview of the Olympic sports teams in action. Read a recap of last week's action, look ahead to this week's action and find key notes on each team in this weekly recap.
 | Swimming & Diving |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartan men's team fell to Michigan in its home finale on Sunday at McCaffree Pool.
This Week: Both the men's and women's teams are off until the Big Ten Championships which take place Feb. 18-21 (women) and Feb. 26-28 (men).
Notes: Sophomore Ricky Forrest (Lake Orion, Mich.) won the 200 butterfly (1:51.80) and kevin Puskaric (Mokena, Ill.) won the 200 breaststroke (2:00.27) againts Michigan...Senior Marcus Poteete (Santa Cruz, Calif.) finished second with a 48.97 in the 100 butterfly while Michigan's Chris Brady set the new pool mark in the event with a time of 47.70 - the previous pool record was set in 1972 by Mark Spitz...Puskaric (200 breaststroke, 1:57.09), junior Jon LaRocque (50 freestyle, 20.13 and 100 backstroke, 48.55) and senior Marcus Poteete (100 butterfly, 47.01) have all set new school records this season...Senior Heather Kiluk snapped her own MSU record in the 200 IM (2:02.44) at the Shamrock Invitational...The men's 200 medley relay team, consisting of LaRocque, Poteete, Joe Schmitt and Matt Massman, as well as the women's 400 medley relay team of sophomores Stephanie Fisher and Becca Ebner, freshman Kerry Sodonis and junior Erinn Wertz, both set new school marks...Poteete's 47.01 in the 100 fly currently ranks as the 18th-fastest time in the nation this year...Puskaric has posted the nation's eighth-fastest time to date this season in the 200 breast (1:57.0).
| Wrestling |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: MSU battled No. 1 Iowa Friday night but fell, 22-15. On Sunday, the Spartans lost 28-7 to No. 18 Michigan.
This Week: The Spartan grapplers host Penn State on Friday (Feb. 13) at 7 p.m. and Big 12 foe Oklahoma on Sunday (Feb. 15) at Feb. 15.
Notes: Senior Rex Kendle (Edwardsburg, Mich.) scored one of the biggest upsets of the season this year when he defeated Iowa's third-ranked 165-pounder Ryan Morningstar, 5-4...Sophomore Anthony Jones, Jr. (Highland Park, Mich.), redshirt freshman 174-pounder Ian Hinton (Nappanee, Ind.) and senior Alan O'Donnell (Lakewood, Mich.) also picked up wins against Iowa ... MSU is now 1-4 in Big Ten play ... Sixth-ranked 133-pounder Franklin Gomez (Brandon, Fla.) suffered just his second loss of the season to No. 1-ranked Daniel Dennis from Iowa but scored his sixth major decision of the year on Sunday against Zac Stevens of Michigan ... Gomez was ranked No. 1 in the country for seven-straight weeks ... Gomez's record now stands at 14-2 this season ... Senior Rex Kendle (Edwardsburg, Mich.) and sophomore Anthony Jones Jr. (Highland Park, Mich.) are tied for the team lead in wins, both at 20.
| Indoor Track & Field |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The Spartans had one of their best meets in recent years at the Meyo Invitational ... MSU had four student-athletes, along with the men's 4x400m relay team, automatically or provisionally qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
This Week: MSU will compete in three meets this weekend, highlighted by the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa ... The Spartans will also send student-athletes to the Husky Invitational, hosted by Washington, and the Grand Valley Invitational.
Notes: Junior Shane Knoll (Warren, Mich.) set the school-record in the mile run at the Meyo and became only the second Spartan in program history to run a sub-four-minute mile as he won one of the most prestigious mile events in the nation by clocking in at 3:57.36 ... His time automatically qualifies him for the NCAA Indoor Championships as he defeated one of the most competitive fields in the event, defeating three automatic NCAA qualifiers and two provisional qualifiers ... Senior sprinter Jeremy Orr (Detroit, Mich.) broke his own school record in the 400m dash at the Meyo, running an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 46.41 ... His time was the fastest in the nation at the time and is currently the top mark in the Big Ten this season...The win marked Orr's second 400m dash title of the season ... Junior Leah Elenbaas (Greenville, Mich.) also broke a school record, topping her own mark in the 1,000m run after clocking in at 2:50.32 to win the event ... Senior Sarah Price (Mankato, Minn.) and junior Emily MacLeod (Cincinnati, Ohio) also provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the mile run and 3,000m run, respectively; both Price and MacLeod finished sixth in their respective events ... The men's 4x400m relay team, consisting of Orr, Kieth Hewlett (Detroit, Mich.), Michael Smoot (Trenton, Mich.) and David Calille (Canton, Mich.), finished in second place at the Meyo Invite, clocking in just 0.08 seconds off of the school record at 3:10.28 ... The current record was set back in 1983 ... The Spartans have seen several record-breaking performances this season, highlighted by Anthony Agrusa (St. Clair Shores, Mich.), who set the school record in the weight throw ... His toss of 18.74m (61-5 ¾) at the Chippewa Open (1/9) broke the previous record, set by Jay Gillespie (Allen Park, Mich.) in the MSU Open on Dec. 5 ... The Spartan sprinters have continued to see success this season, highlighted by Yury Ratomski (Novi, Mich.) and Orr; both Ratomski and Orr took home event titles at the ND Invite with Orr winning the 200m and Ratomski claiming the 60m title; Orr currently sits as the nation's ninth-ranked sprinter in the 400m dash as well ... The women have received key contributions from Charelise Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa.), who claimed her second 60m dash title of the season after posting a time of 7.72 ... MSU's distance runners have also been key in the early season success for the track program ... Aside from Lisa Senakiewich (Davison, Mich.), who posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the mile at Notre Dame, MSU has seen plenty of success in the 3,000m run as well ... After Senakiewich won the event with a personal-best time of 9:34.02 two weeks ago at the, the Spartans finished 1-2-3 at ND with Price leading the way ... Freshman Beth Rohl (New Buffalo, Mich.) has been a bright spot for the throwers on the women's side as she has put up big marks in her first three collegiate meets, highlighted by her second-place finish at the Indiana Invitational when she tallied a personal-best toss of 18.10m (59-4 ¾) ... Rohl continued her success at the Notre Dame Invite, finishing second in the weight throw and third in the shot put and she threw a personal-best, 14.00m (45-11 ¼), in the shot put at the Meyo ... The Spartans saw three athletes earn weekly conference honors following the season-opening MSU Open ... Davis took home the school's first ever Big Ten Female Track Athlete of the Week honor after claiming the 60m dash title with a personal-best time of 7.63 seconds; Becca Buchholtz (East Troy, Mich.) was the Big Ten Female Field Athlete of the Week after winning the pentathlon in her first collegiate event while Gillespie took home Male Field Athlete of the Week after his then school-record heave of 18.40m (50-6 ¼) in the weight throw.
| Gymnastics |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: MSU finished third with a score of 194.400 at the IGI Chicago Style Invitational on Friday (Feb. 6). No. 14 Illinois took first place with a 195.100, while No. 24 Boise State was second with a score of 194.775 and Illinois-Chicago finished fourth with a 193.275. MSU claimed event titles on two of the four events and three Spartans set career-highs.
This Week: The Spartans host No. 9 Florida on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 2 p.m.
Notes: MSU ranks 21st on vault, 22nd on floor exercise and 25th on vault nationally ... Junior Rochelle Robinson (Chesapeake, Va.) posted a career-high 9.900 on the uneven bars, finishing first overall on the event at the IGI Chicago Style Invitational ... The Spartans recorded a season-high 48.825 on floor exercise Saturday, and junior Emily Lopatofsky (Waymart, Pa.) notched a season-high 9.875 to finish first overall on the event. Senior Katlyn Roggensack (Wheaton, Ill.) tied her career-high (9.825) on floor to finish second overall and sophomore Kathyrn Mahoney (Western Springs, Ill.) notched a season-high 9.800 ... MSU finished with a season-high 49.025 on vault. Roggensack set a career-high with a 9.925 to finish first overall for the second time in her career. Sophomore Nicole Argiros (Livonia, Mich.) also set a career-high on vault with a 9.875 while Robinson posted a 9.850 ... The Spartans finished the IGI Chicago Style meet on uneven bars, with Robinson setting a career-high on the event with a 9.900, giving her top honors ... Roggensack ranks third on vault among Big Ten competitors, while Robinson is sixth. Robinson also ranks fifth on uneven bars in the conference.
| Women's Tennis |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: The No. 66 Michigan State women's tennis team returned home to host both Toledo and Detroit on Friday, Feb. 6. The Spartans went on to defeat the Rockets, 6-1, in the afternoon match, and followed that with a 6-1 win over Detroit in the second dual of the day. With the sweep, the Spartans move to 3-3 on the season and 3-0 at home.
This Week: The Spartans will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., on Feb. 15 to take on the Indiana State Sycamores at 12 p.m.
Notes: The Spartans begin the spring season away from home for five out of their first eight matches, traveling nearly 6,000 miles...Against regional opponents, the Spartans are now perfect on the season (3-0), with all three wins coming at home...Junior Christine Milliken (Traverse City, Mich.) made her season debut at the No. 3 doubles position with senior Stephanie Kebler (Okemos, Mich.), posting an 8-1 win over Jenny Belsky and Melissa Reynolds of Toledo...Freshman Dana Guentert (Lilburn, Ga.) is now riding a six match singles win streak, with an overall record of 11-4 in singles on the season...Sophomore Whitney Wilson (Evansville, Ind.) is now 8-2 in her last 10 matches, while winning the last three singles matches...Senior Ana Milosavljevic (Johannesburg, South Africa) and freshman Elena Ivanova (Moscow, Russia) are 2-0 in the No. 2 doubles spot, with a three-match win streak...Sophomore Whitney Wilson (Evansville, Ind.) leads the Spartans with 14 singles victories on the season...Senior Stephanie Kebler (Okemos, Mich.) and sophomore Lindsey Lonergan (Cincinnati, Ohio) are still the No. 48-ranked doubles tandem in the nation, with a 7-5 record on the season.
| Men's Tennis |
Roster | Schedule
Last Week: MSU defeated Toledo 5-2, Saturday, Feb. 7 at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. The match was the seventh-straight win for the Spartans, all of which came at home.
This Week: The Spartans will take to the road for the first time this season on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at Western Michigan, with play beginning at 1 p.m. They return home on Saturday, Feb. 14 for a noon match with No. 25 Notre Dame.
Notes: MSU's seven wins mark the best start to the dual season for MSU since 2003, when the team won its first eight matches ... Senior John Allare (Mason, Ohio) picked up wins in both singles and doubles play against Toldeo. He defeated Jared Miller at the No. 1 singles position, 6-3, 6-2, and with partner Jason Norville (Farmington Hills, Mich.), picked up a win over Robbie McCallum and Sven Burus, 8-2 ... Playing at No. 2 singles, senior Alex Forger (Okemos, Mich.) posted a win over Sven Burus of Toledo, 6-0, 6-3, and classmate Scott Rasmussen (Moraga, Calif.) defeated Aleksander Elezovic in a tie-breaking set winning 4-6, 7-5(7) ... Rasumssen is 6-0 in dual play and 13-7 overall ... Allare, freshman Austin Brooks (Houston, Texas) and classmate Ronnie Hulewicz (Tequesta, Fla.) are 5-1 in singles dual play this season ... The doubles team of Forger and Clark Richardson (Leawood, Kansas) have a 5-0 record this season, as does Allare and Norville.
Players Mentioned
