Spartan Gymnastics Earns Share of Two Event Titles at B1G Championships

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Michigan State gymnastics posted a season-high floor score of 49.300, and earned a share of event titles on floor and bars on the way to a second-place finish in the afternoon session at the Big Ten Championships Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Lea Mitchell finished second in the afternoon all-around competition with a 39.300, her second-best score of the season. Audrey Barber of Maryland took top honors in the all-around with a 39.325 score.

"Today was probably the best and definitely the most fun way to close the chapter on our 2019 season as a team," MSU head coach Mike Rowe said. "Our warmup was electric from beginning to end and all we asked our Spartans to do was keep it going, not let up and that's exactly what they did! Starting on vault, we put decent vaults on the mat. Our senior anchor, Jessica Ling was awarded a career-high 9.900 on bars, we kept the momentum going on beam and finished with a season high on floor!"

MSU tallied 48.725 on vault, 48.900 on bars, 48.500 on the beam and 49.300 on floor to equal its second-best team score of the season with a 195.425 total. No. 23 Ohio State posted 48.800 on vault, 48.950 on bars, 48.925 on the beam and 49.100 on floor for the top score of 195.775 in the afternoon session. No. 7 Michigan won the Big Ten title with a score of 197.400 in the evening session, followed by Illinois at 196.650. No. 17 Nebraska came in third with a 196.550 and No. 11 Minnesota was fourth at 196.425.

The Spartans began the competition on vault and were led by a pair of 9.775s from All-Big Ten Second Team selections Mitchell and junior Gabriella Douglas. Freshmen Ashley Hofelich (9.750) and Sydney Ewing (9.725) turned in the next-best scores for MSU.

On bars for the second rotation, senior Jessica Ling turned in the top score for Michigan State with a career-high 9.900 to tie for first on the apparatus. Mitchell posted the second-best mark with a 9.825, tying for third overall. She was followed by a 9.750 from senior Roya Shirley. Sophomore Tristan Brown recorded a 9.725.

Mitchell, Douglas and Ling were all named to the Big Ten All-Championships team for their performances on Saturday.

Moving to the beam for the third rotation, Douglas was the top Spartan, tying her second-best score of the season with a 9.825 to grab a share of second place overall. She was followed closely by Mitchell, who equaled her season-high of 9.800. Freshman Alyssa Wiedeman tied her season-high with a 9.750.

Finishing on floor, Douglas and Mitchell posted a pair of 9.900s to tie their second-best marks of the season and earn a share of top honors on the event. Hofelich tied her season-high with a 9.850, while Ewing and senior Drew Hendershot tallied a 9.825 as the Spartans tallied their top floor score of the season as a team.

"We're looking forward to Monday's selection show to see if and where we have any individual qualifiers moving on to NCAA Regionals in two weeks," Rowe said. "We've got a great foundation to build on and it's exciting to think of what we have to look forward to for 2020!"

The Spartans await selections for the NCAA Regionals, with 36 teams across the country moving on based upon their national qualifying score. Additionally, 12 all-around competitors and 64 individual event specialists are included in the championship field from non-qualifying teams.

Any Michigan State selections to the NCAA Regionals will be announced on MSUSpartans.com.

Spartan Gymnastics Earns Share of Two Event Titles at B1G Championships

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Players Mentioned

Tristan Brown

Gabriella Douglas

Sydney Ewing

Drew Hendershot

Ashley Hofelich

Jessica Ling

Lea Mitchell

Roya Shirley

Alyssa Wiedeman