Saturday, January 18
East Lansing, Mich.
7 PM
Michigan State University
vs
Ohio State
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell/MSU Athletic Communications
Spartan Gymnastics Hosts Ohio State in B1G Opener Saturday in Annual Pink Meet
1/17/2020 2:10:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
MSU hosts Ohio State in the Spartans' annual Pink Meet Saturday at 7 p.m.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State gymnastics hosts Ohio State at Jenison Field House on Saturday, Jan. 18 in the Spartans' Big Ten opener, with the meet slated to begin at 7 p.m. Saturday's meet is the 14th-annual Jan Howard Breast Cancer Awareness meet presented by Sparrow Health Systems and Dewpoint, dedicated in memory of Jan Howard, mother of alumni gymnast (1990-95) and current Director of Student-Athlete Development at Michigan State, Angela (Howard) Montie. There will be free admission for all fans wearing pink.
Saturday's meet will be streamed live on BTN+ and live results will be posted on MSUSpartans.com.
SPARTANS REIGN THE BEAM EARLY ONÂ . . .Â
Michigan State is tied for eighth in the nation and second in the Big Ten on beam, averaging a score of 49.100 over two meets.
Gabriella Douglas currently sits at eighth in the country and third in the conference among all beam specialists, averaging a 9.938.
Douglas posted a 9.925 against Western Michigan, before scoring a career-best 9.950 in the home-opener vs. Central Michigan and Illinois State last weekend.
CAREER-HIGHS LEADING THE WAY ...
In the home-opener last week, MSU gymnastics had 12 career-best scores to highlight the meet.
Junior Lea Mitchell led the way with a career-best all-around score of 39.375, including a career-best 9.875 on beam.
Freshman Nyah Smith also collected personal bests on three of the four events - vault (9.825), bars (9.775) and floor (9.825).
LAST TIME OUT . . .Â
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).
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The meet was highlighted by 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. Â 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.
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. 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.Â
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. Put everything together and we just have to keep trudging away and raising the bar every time."
PINK MEETÂ . . .
Saturday's meet is the 14th-annual Jan Howard Breast Cancer Awareness meet presented by Sparrow Health Systems and Dewpoint, dedicated in memory of Jan Howard, mother of alumni gymnast (1990-95) and current Director of Student-Athlete Development at Michigan State, Angela (Howard) Montie.
The MSU gymnastics team, coaches, fans and staff will wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness.
WELCOME FRESHMEN Â . . .
Michigan State welcomes five freshman gymnasts to the roster this season; Chloe Bellmore (DeWitt, Mich.), Ryanna Head (Hernando Beach, Fla.), Jori Jackard (Haslett, Mich.), Nyah Smith (West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Linda Zivat (Manhattan, Ill.).
O CAPTAINS! OUR CAPTAINS! Â . . .
Senior Gabriella Douglas and junior Lea Mitchell will serve as the co-captains for the 2020 season.
Douglas and Mitchell are serving as co-captains for the second-straight season. The duo were both named to the All-Big Ten Second Team and gathered Big Ten All-Championships Team accolades in 2019. Also, the co-captains both competed at the NCAA Regionals in Baton Rouge, Louisiana last season.
"Ella and Lea have once again been designated as the Spartan Gymnastics Team Captains for the 2019-20 season by their teammates and coaches," Rowe said. "When it comes to leadership in the classroom and out, and especially in the arena, they complement each other by setting the standards that exemplify the values, philosophies and long-range goals of our program."
BUCKEYE NOTES Â . . .Â
The Buckeyes enter the Big Ten opener after securing a 194.025-193.800 win over N.C. State last weekend, where they earned wins on three of the four events as a team.
Ohio State was led by senior Olivia Aepli, who had three first-place finishes and posted a 29.575 in the all-around for third place.
The Buckeyes are coached by Meredith Paulicivic, who is in her third season at the helm of the Ohio State gymnastics program.
LAST MEETING WITH THE BUCKEYESÂ . . .Â
In the last meeting between the two programs, the Buckeyes won the dual by a score of 196.200-195.225 in Jenison Field House on Jan. 27, 2019. Lea Mitchell won the all-around with a 39.100.
QUOTABLE WITH COACH ROWE Â . . .Â
"We've had a great week of practice this week so we will be potentially switching up a couple of line-ups. Ohio State has a great program traditionally and they have one meet under their belt, so we know that they'll be bringing their 'A' game. Â Going into Saturday's contest, we have been focusing on controlled and stuck landings, complete finishes and putting it all out there. We are coming off of last weekend's meet where we competed closer to what we're actually capable of and foresee us improving our score even more so this weekend. It will be an exciting and competitive meet, probably coming down to the last event, so it will be especially exciting for our fans."Â
UP NEXT Â . . .Â
Michigan State gymnastics continues its three-meet home stretch next weekend, as the Spartans host Nebraska on Sunday, Jan. 26 at 2 p.m.
Saturday's meet will be streamed live on BTN+ and live results will be posted on MSUSpartans.com.
SPARTANS REIGN THE BEAM EARLY ONÂ . . .Â
Michigan State is tied for eighth in the nation and second in the Big Ten on beam, averaging a score of 49.100 over two meets.
Gabriella Douglas currently sits at eighth in the country and third in the conference among all beam specialists, averaging a 9.938.
Douglas posted a 9.925 against Western Michigan, before scoring a career-best 9.950 in the home-opener vs. Central Michigan and Illinois State last weekend.
CAREER-HIGHS LEADING THE WAY ...
In the home-opener last week, MSU gymnastics had 12 career-best scores to highlight the meet.
Junior Lea Mitchell led the way with a career-best all-around score of 39.375, including a career-best 9.875 on beam.
Freshman Nyah Smith also collected personal bests on three of the four events - vault (9.825), bars (9.775) and floor (9.825).
LAST TIME OUT . . .Â
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).
Â
The meet was highlighted by 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. Â 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.
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. 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.Â
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. Put everything together and we just have to keep trudging away and raising the bar every time."
PINK MEETÂ . . .
Saturday's meet is the 14th-annual Jan Howard Breast Cancer Awareness meet presented by Sparrow Health Systems and Dewpoint, dedicated in memory of Jan Howard, mother of alumni gymnast (1990-95) and current Director of Student-Athlete Development at Michigan State, Angela (Howard) Montie.
The MSU gymnastics team, coaches, fans and staff will wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness.
WELCOME FRESHMEN Â . . .
Michigan State welcomes five freshman gymnasts to the roster this season; Chloe Bellmore (DeWitt, Mich.), Ryanna Head (Hernando Beach, Fla.), Jori Jackard (Haslett, Mich.), Nyah Smith (West Bloomfield, Mich.) and Linda Zivat (Manhattan, Ill.).
O CAPTAINS! OUR CAPTAINS! Â . . .
Senior Gabriella Douglas and junior Lea Mitchell will serve as the co-captains for the 2020 season.
Douglas and Mitchell are serving as co-captains for the second-straight season. The duo were both named to the All-Big Ten Second Team and gathered Big Ten All-Championships Team accolades in 2019. Also, the co-captains both competed at the NCAA Regionals in Baton Rouge, Louisiana last season.
"Ella and Lea have once again been designated as the Spartan Gymnastics Team Captains for the 2019-20 season by their teammates and coaches," Rowe said. "When it comes to leadership in the classroom and out, and especially in the arena, they complement each other by setting the standards that exemplify the values, philosophies and long-range goals of our program."
BUCKEYE NOTES Â . . .Â
The Buckeyes enter the Big Ten opener after securing a 194.025-193.800 win over N.C. State last weekend, where they earned wins on three of the four events as a team.
Ohio State was led by senior Olivia Aepli, who had three first-place finishes and posted a 29.575 in the all-around for third place.
The Buckeyes are coached by Meredith Paulicivic, who is in her third season at the helm of the Ohio State gymnastics program.
LAST MEETING WITH THE BUCKEYESÂ . . .Â
In the last meeting between the two programs, the Buckeyes won the dual by a score of 196.200-195.225 in Jenison Field House on Jan. 27, 2019. Lea Mitchell won the all-around with a 39.100.
QUOTABLE WITH COACH ROWE Â . . .Â
"We've had a great week of practice this week so we will be potentially switching up a couple of line-ups. Ohio State has a great program traditionally and they have one meet under their belt, so we know that they'll be bringing their 'A' game. Â Going into Saturday's contest, we have been focusing on controlled and stuck landings, complete finishes and putting it all out there. We are coming off of last weekend's meet where we competed closer to what we're actually capable of and foresee us improving our score even more so this weekend. It will be an exciting and competitive meet, probably coming down to the last event, so it will be especially exciting for our fans."Â
UP NEXT Â . . .Â
Michigan State gymnastics continues its three-meet home stretch next weekend, as the Spartans host Nebraska on Sunday, Jan. 26 at 2 p.m.
Players Mentioned
Vault, Beam, Floor
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Vault, Beam, Floor
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All-Around
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All-Around
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All-Around
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