Michigan State University
Central Michigan/Illinois State
Career-Highs Lead MSU Gymnastics to Season-High 195.225
1/11/2020 5:33:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
Junior Lea Mitchell won the all-around with a career-best 39.375.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Behind a career-best all-around score from junior Lea Mitchell, the Michigan State gymnastics team registered a season-best 195.225 in its home opener. The Spartans finished second behind Central Michigan who finished first with a score of 195.675, while Illinois State completed the tri-meet with a 192.850.
Michigan State had event winners on beam, floor and all-around. Senior Ella Douglas earned her second-straight win on beam with a career-best score of 9.950. Mitchell won both the all-around (39.375) and tied for first on floor (9.875).
The Spartans started the meet on vault earning a score of 48.775. Freshman Nyah Smith was tied for second on vault with a personal-best 9.825. Central Michigan's Hannah Demers won the event with a 9.850. Sophomore Ashley Hofelich and Mitchell tied for fourth with matching scores of 9.800.
On bars, the Spartans recorded a season-high score of 48.000. Mitchell had the highest score for Michigan State with a 9.825 which placed her fourth. Smith tied for sixth with a personal-best 9.775. CMU's Demers also captured the event title on bars with a 9.900.
Michigan State recorded a season-best on beam with a score of 49.200, which is its highest score on beam since earning a 49.200 at Illinois on Feb. 16, 2008. Overall, four Spartans recorded personal bests. Douglas captured the event record with a career-best score of 9.950. She is the first Spartan to capture a 9.950 on beam since Kelsey Morley who did it twice in 2009. Freshman Chloe Bellmore and Mitchell finished tied for third with personal bests of 9.875. Sophomore Alyssa Wiedeman finished seventh, collecting a personal best 9.800.
The Spartans finished the night on floor, earning a meet-best score of 49.250. This was the first time that MSU reached 49.000 on floor this season. Four gymnasts tied for first on floor with matching scores of 9.875, including Mitchell, Douglas and Hofelich, who had a personal best. Smith (9.825) and Bellmore (9.750) both collected career best scores.
"With the Big Ten season starting – the Big Ten is strong this year so we have some tough competition," MSU head coach Mike Rowe said. "We've just got to keep raising the bar for us and being consistent with what we've been learning and what we've been producing out here. We've started out pretty good on beam and floor – floor has always been pretty good for us and beam is getting more consistent. Put everything together and we just have to keep trudging away and raising the bar every time. I think the kids are focusing on the details and transitioning them better."
Michigan State begins Big Ten action on Saturday, Jan. 18, hosting Ohio State at 7 p.m.
Players Mentioned
