Spartans Kick off 2015 Season at BGSU

Jan. 7, 2015

Michigan State at Bowling Green
Dates	Saturday, January 10, 2015 \| Bowling Green, Ohio Anderson Arena
Video Stream	none
Live Scoring	Beyond the Scores App (free download via ITunes Store)
Download Game Notes	Michigan State \| Bowling Green
Social Media	@MSUgymnastics \| Facebook

SERIES NOTES

• Michigan State University will travel to Bowling Green, Ohio to face Bowling Green State University on Saturday, Jan. 10. Competition will begin at 2 p.m. in Anderson Arena for what will be the first meet of the year for both the Spartans and the Falcons.

• Live Scoring will be available by downloading the free app, "Beyond The Scores," on your smart phone or tablet. Create an account, add "Bowling Green State Gym Team" to your favorites, select the meet against Michigan State, and enjoy an interactive scoring system.

• This is the first time since 1994 that MSU will start the season on the road. Michigan State's last road meet to start a season was at Missouri on Jan. 9, 1994. Throughout MSU's 20-year streak of home openers, the Spartans have posted a 22-22 record. This is the first time these two teams will face each other in the season opener.

• The Spartans hold a 46-30 all-time record in season openers since the sport began at Michigan State in 1974.

• MSU holds a 15-1 all-time record against BGSU. The last time the two schools met was on February 10, 2006 at Ball State, where the Spartans defeated the Falcons by a score of 191.025-183.625.

TEAM NOTES
• The Spartans finished the 2014 season ranked 39th in the country. MSU finished sixth in the Big Ten regular season, and eighth at the Big Ten Championship meet. The Falcons finished 40th in the country and third in the MAC.

• Three Spartans represented Michigan State at the 2014 NCAA Regional Championships. Alina Cartwright led the Spartans and tied for fifth in all-around competition with a score of 39.325. Lisa Burt followed Cartwright and tied for seventh in all-around competition, notching a score of 39.200. In her first appearance at the regional meet, Elena Lagoski earned a score of 9.875 to place ninth overall on the floor exercise.

• Coming into 2015, the Spartans rank eighth in the Big Ten preseason coaches' poll while the Falcons tied for second in the MAC preseason coaches' survey. Both MSU and BGSU received votes in the 2015 National Coaches Poll.

• Michigan State added three freshmen to the roster for the 2015 season: Hailee Westney, Anna Gamelo, and Tori Huehn.

• Kathie Klages kicks off her 25th season as head coach of the MSU gymnastics program. She is the longest-tenured coach in the athletic department. The Spartans welcome assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Mike Rowe to the program after coaching nine years at the University of Pittsburgh. Both Rowe and assistant coach Nicole Curler are MSU alumni.

• MSU completed its 2015 preseason with the annual "Meet The Spartans" event, where the top six gymnasts on each event competed. The team and coaches interacted with the crowd to teach a "Gymnastics 101" and help fans to understand what judges look for during routines. The event was capped with a autograph session with the team and coaches.

• In Sunday's intra-squad competition, senior Ashley Noll finished first on vault followed by teammates Lisa Burt and Anna Gamelo. Mackenzie Smith took first place on bars while Alina Cartwright and Burt finished second and third. On beam, Burt took first place, but was closely followed by sophomore Kira Frederick and junior Brittany Holmes. Sophomore Elena Lagoski earned first place on floor followed by Frederick and Noll.

• Michigan State is closing in on its 500th win as a program with an all-time record of 497-252-4 in its 40 years as a varsity program. Head coach Kathie Klages has been at the head of the program for 318 of those wins.

• Cartwright is coming off of a successful 2014 season, being named First Team All-Big Ten. She is the first Spartan to be named First Team All-Big Ten since assistant coach Nicole Curler accomplished this in the 2010 season. Cartwright was voted the program's Outstanding Gymnast by her teammates in 2014.

• The Spartans had seven gymnasts receive Academic All-Big Ten honors in the 2013-2014 school year. Klages has had 136 Academic All-Big Ten selections over her 25 years at the helm of MSU, as well as 115 student-athletes on the NACGC/W Scholar-Americans list.

• Cartwright and Burt have been selected as Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch for the 2015 season, as announced by the conference office in December.

• Later this season, the Spartans will look to make a difference at the annual Jan Howard Memorial Breast Cancer Awareness Meet that will take place on Saturday, January 24, as well as the Autism Awarenesss Meet that will be held on Sunday, February 15. Both meets will be in East Lansing at Jenison Fieldhouse.

• The Spartans will open B1G competition against Iowa on Jan. 18 at 2 p.m. in Iowa City, Iowa.