No. 25 MSU Gymnastics Travels to No. 17 Iowa State for Top-25 Match Up

EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 25 Michigan State gymnastics will travel to Ames, Iowa for a top-25 non-conference dual meet against No. 17 Iowa State on Friday, Feb. 28. The meet is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Fans can follow live on Cyclones TV at cyclones.com/watch and live results at http://bit.ly/MSU-IowaStateLiveStats. Final results will be posted on MSUSpartans.com.

SPARTAN NOTES ...
- Michigan State is ranked No. 25 in the nation, with a team NQS score of 195.710. This is the first time the Spartans have been ranked mid-season since 2015 when MSU was ranked No. 25 during Week 5 and No. 23 during Week 9.
- MSU earned the No. 4 seed at the 2020 Big Ten Championships on Saturday, March 21 and will compete in the evening session with No. 7 Michigan, No. 11 Minnesota and No. 16 Nebraska.
- The Spartans had four individual scores of 9.900 at the Big Five meet, led by Mitchell with two 9.900's (vault and floor), sophomore Ashley Hofelich on floor and senior Gabriella Douglas on beam.
- MSU reached its season-best team road score at the Big Five - Elevate the Stage meet, tallying a 195.975.
- The Spartans earned a season-high score on vault with a 49.075 and eclipsed the 49.000 mark on floor for the sixth time.
- The Spartans' season-best team score of 196.550 on Jan. 26 was the fifth-best score in program history. The mark was led by the Spartans tying its program-best floor score of 49.475, which was last reached at the 2017 Big Ten Championships.

LAST TIME OUT ...
Michigan State reached its second-best team road score of the season at the Big Five Meet at Elevate the Stage, tallying a 195.975.

MSU placed fourth among four-ranked teams in the Saturday session of Big Fives, putting the Spartans tied for fourth in the Big Ten.

The team also earned its season-best vault score, posting a 49.075, for the second vault team score above 49.000 this season. Lea Mitchell posted a career-best 9.900, while freshman Nyah Smith tied her career-best with a 9.875.

MSU also scored above 49.000 on floor for the sixth time this season. The Spartan floor squad was led by two scores of 9.900 from Lea Mitchell and Ashley Hofelich, who tied for fourth overall.

Mitchell placed fourth in the all-around competition, tying her career-best score of 39.375. Her all-around score was composed by two scores of 9.900 on vault and floor exercise.

On beam, Gabriella Douglas earned a 9.900 for fourth overall, which was her third beam score of 9.900 or higher this season.

SPARTANS EARN FOUR SEED AT B1G CHAMPIONSHIPS . . .
Michigan State will be the No. 4-seed in the evening session of the Big Ten Championships on Saturday, March 21 in Columbus, Ohio.

After a four-way tie for fourth place, with the Spartans, Illinois, Ohio State and Penn State all standing at 4-5-0 against conference opponents following the Big Five meet, Michigan State won the tiebreaker to earn the four seed at the Championships next month.

MSU won the head-to-head among the three other teams as the Spartans defeated Ohio State on Jan. 18 and Illinois on Feb. 16.

The evening session is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. on March 1. No. 1-seed Michigan will begin on bars, No. 2-seed Minnesota on vault, No. 3-seed Nebraska on beam and Michigan State will start on floor exercise.

SCOUTING THE CYCLONES . . .
Last time out, No. 17 Iowa State defeated Southern Utah, 196.300-195.775, on the road. The score marked the Cyclones' fourth-straight score above 196.000.

Junior Andrea Maldonado was named the Big 12 Co-Event Specialist of the Week on Feb. 24 after her performance against Southern Utah. Maldanado scored a 9.925 on vault, helping the Cyclones to their season-best vault score of 49.275.

Iowa State head coach Jay Ronayne is in his 14th season at the helm of the Cyclone gymnastics program. He has coached his teams to NCAA Regionals in 12 of his 13 seasons as head coach.

LAST TIME OUT VS. THE CYCLONES . . .
This will be the first meeting between the Spartans and Cyclones since the 2018 season when MSU visited Ames for a quad meet with Iowa State, Minnesota and UW Stout on Feb. 23, 2018.

Michigan State finished third at the quad, while Iowa State won the meet with a 195.775.

LEAVING IT ALL ON THE FLOOR . . .
The Spartan floor squad continues to shine as they are ranked 22nd in the nation and 5th in the conference, with a NQS of 49.110.

Douglas, Mitchell and Hofelich have been the most consistent Spartans on floor, with all three posting at least one score of 9.900 or higher. Together, the trio has combined for nine floor exercise event titles.

SPARTANS REIGN ON BEAM . . .
Michigan State ranks 24th in the nation and 5th in the conference, with a NQS of 48.980.

Douglas ranks fifth in the Big Ten, with a 9.875. She captured a career-best 9.950 in a tri-meet with Central Michigan and Illinois State on Jan. 11 to tie for the second-best individual beam score in program history.

ROOKIES IN THE LINEUP . . .
Three freshmen have become fixtures in the Spartan rotation this season, including Chloe Bellmore (DeWitt, Mich.) on vault, beam and floor, Jori Jackard (Haslett, Mich.) on bars and Nyah Smith (West Bloomfield, Mich.) in the all-around competition.

JACKARD NAMED B1G EVENT SPECIALIST OF THE WEEK . . .
Jackard was named the Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week after her performance on Sunday, Feb. 16 against No. 23 Illinois, the conference announced on Feb. 18.

The Haslett, Michigan native set a new career-high on the uneven bars against the Fighting Illini, earning a 9.925 to capture the event title outright for her third bars title of the season. Jackard's mark tied for the fifth-best individual bars score in program history and highest since the 2018 season when Hailee Westney also captured a 9.925 at the Big Five meet on March 17.

Jackard has now posted six-consecutive scores of 9.800 or higher and earned two scores of 9.900 or better during her freshman campaign on the uneven bars.

O CAPTAINS! OUR CAPTAINS! . . .
Senior Gabriella Douglas and junior Lea Mitchell will serve as the co-captains for the 2020 season.

TANGLING WITH RANKED OPPONENTS . . .
The Spartans face a strong competition field this season as seven 2020 opponents are currently ranked in the top-25 of the Road to Nationals poll.

This weekend's top-25 match up in Ames with No. 17 Iowa State will be Michigan State's first dual meet after breaking into the top-25 earlier this week.

MSU's win over No. 23 Illinois on Feb. 16, 196.150-195.775, marked the Spartans' first win over a top-25 team this season. MSU finished one spot above No. 24 Maryland last weekend at the Big Five meet.

UP NEXT . . .
Michigan State gymnastics returns home next weekend, hosting Eastern Michigan in a non-conference dual meet for Senior Day. The meet is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at Jenison Field House. After the conclusion of the meet, the Spartans will honor senior Gabriella Douglas for Senior Day celebrations.

No. 25 MSU Gymnastics Travels to No. 17 Iowa State for Top-25 Match Up

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Players Mentioned

Chloe Bellmore

Gabriella Douglas

Ashley Hofelich

Jori Jackard

Lea Mitchell

Nyah Smith

Hailee Westney