No. 19 Gymnastics Returns to Action at Big Five Meet

LINCOLN, Neb. - No. 19 Michigan State returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT for the Big Ten Conference's annual Big Five Meet at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. The meet will be televised nationally on the Big Ten Network with Olivia Karas and Dean Linke on the call. Live results will be available at MSUSpartans.com.

Michigan State will compete during the second session and take on No. 13 Ohio State, No. 18 Minnesota, Rutgers and host Nebraska.

Saturday is the first meet for the Spartans since a mass shooting on the East Lansing Campus on Monday, Feb. 13, when three students were killed and five were hospitalized. MSU returns to competition after its meet at Illinois on Feb. 17 was postponed. Michigan State students returned to class on Monday, Feb. 20.

THE MATCHUP
MSU enters Saturday's meet at 4-2 (3-1 B1G) after dropping its last meet, 196.150-195.725 at then-No. 17 Iowa on Feb. 11, the Spartans' first loss since their season opener at then-No. 7 Alabama on Jan. 6. MSU ranks 19th in the Week 7 Road to Nationals rankings with a national qualifying score of 196.580. Without a meet in Week 6, MSU is currently counting all of its team scores toward its NQS.

Ohio State (10-1, 4-1), ranked at No. 13 in the Week 7 Road to Nationals, comes in as the highest-ranked team in the meet with an NQS of 196.780. No. 17 Minnesota (7-3-1, 3-1-1) posts an NQS of 196.580, while Nebraska posts a 195.515 (3-5, 0-4) and Rutgers (5-12, 0-5) posts a 195.370.

Michigan State finished first in last year's Big Five Meet with a 196.975, competing in the second session against Nebraska, Minnesota, Penn State and Rutgers. MSU last faced Ohio State in dual meet action on Feb. 26, 2022, falling 197.075-196.850.

LAST TIME OUT
Despite a season-low score of 195.725 at Iowa on Feb. 11, MSU topped Iowa on bars (49.250-49.025) and notched four event titles.

Sophomore Gabi Stephen led the way for Michigan State in the all-around, earning her second-straight all-around title with a 39.450. Freshman Nikki Smith collected her second-straight bars title with a 9.875, earning a share of the title with senior teammate Jori Jackard. Sophomore Skyla Schulte earned her first vault title of the season, tying her career high with a 9.900.

NIKKI SMITH COLLECTS THIRD B1G FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONOR
Spartan standout freshman Nikki Smith earned her third Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor on Feb. 15 after posting a 39.325 at Iowa. Smith scored 9.875s on bars and floor, a 9.800 on vault and 9.775 on beam.

FRESHMAN SHOWDOWN IN LINCOLN
Saturday's meet boasts an exciting matchup between Spartan freshman Nikki Smith and Ohio State freshman Payton Harris, two of the highest-scoring rookies in the Big Ten this season. The duo has combined for seven of the nine B1G Freshman of the Week honors that have been awarded this season - Harris with four and Smith with three. Smith posts a career-best 39.525 in the all-around, set vs. Michigan on Jan. 29, while Harris earned a career-best 39.500 against Iowa on Jan. 22.

SPARTAN ALL-AROUNDERS
The Spartans all-around trio of Skyla Schulte, Gabi Stephen and Nikki Smith is one of the strongest in the nation, each gymnast earning at least one all-around title this season. Stephen (39.390 NQS) and Schulte (39.255 NQS) have competed in the all-around every meet this season, while Smith has competed in the all-around in every meet except the Spartans' opener at Alabama, where she competed on every event but beam.

UP NEXT
MSU wraps up conference action at Illinois on Monday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. ET.

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Players Mentioned

Jori Jackard

Skyla Schulte

Nikki Smith