Michigan State University
Maryland
No. 10 Gymnastics Dominates No. 25 Maryland in 197.550-195.525 Victory
2/18/2024 7:14:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
EAST LANSING, Mich. - 10th-ranked Michigan State gymnastics posted its second-best team score of the season to defeat Maryland, 197.550-195.525 Sunday afternoon in Jenison Field House. MSU's 2.025-point win was its largest margin of victory this season.
The Spartans move to 8-3 and remain the only undefeated team in the Big Ten with an unblemished 5-0 league mark. Maryland drops to 3-3 (2-3 B1G). MSU's 5-0 start matches its best start to conference action since 1996.
"We've got a lot of talent on this team and we know it," said head coach Mike Rowe. "It's just that we're still trying to have those details that we've been addressing really hard in the gym show up on the same day. Beam was so dynamic and great. Bars, we finally started landing some dismounts. The finer details are the hardest ones to fix and those are the ones that put you over the top. I feel really good about our position. We have to do what we did today and maybe a little more (next week). We could score higher on the floor, we could score higher on beam. We could still score higher on bars, and vault we put in five 10.000 start values, which is the first time this season, which was really exciting to see."
MSU captured at least a share of every event title while junior Skyla Schulte continued her spectacular season in the all-around, earning her fourth all-around title in as many appearances and tying a season-high 39.600. Schulte also won the beam title, her fourth of the season, while freshman MaKayla Tucker won the vault title, sophomore Sage Kellerman and junior Gabrielle Stephen shared the bars title and sophomore Nikki Smith collected the floor title.
MSU took an early 49.300-48.975 lead with a strong start on vault. Tucker led the way for the Spartans in the second spot with a 9.900, earning the only 9.900-plus score on the event of the day for her first career event title. Schulte and Stephen earned matching 9.850s to finish in a tie for third and Smith posted a 9.825. Making her first appearance back in the vault lineup after two meets away, freshman Gabi Ortiz scored a 9.750, and Kellerman scored a 9.875 in the anchor position to finish second.
A season-high 39.575 on bars pushed the MSU lead to nearly a point in the second rotation. Kellerman and Stephen both earned season-high 9.950s to share the victory, each earning a 9.900/10.000 split from the judges. Schulte also scored a season high with a 9.925 in the leadoff position, collecting a share of third place with Smith, who tied her season high. Sophomore Olivia Zsarmani scored a 9.850 and senior Delanie Harkness earned a 9.800 in the anchor spot. MSU's 39.575 is its second-best bars score in program history.
Schulte's 9.950 led the Spartans to a 49.350 in the third rotation on beam. Her score tied her career and season highs and was the third Spartan routine of the day to earn a 10.000 from one judge. Ortiz and senior Baleigh Garcia earned a share of second place with 9.875s, followed by senior Giana Kalefe with the third-best beam score of the day (9.850). Tucker scored a 9.800 in her fifth beam appearance of the season.
MSU ended the meet with a 49.325 on floor. Tucker, appearing in the leadoff position for the first time in her career, scored a 9.825, and was followed by fifth-year senior Nyah Smith with a matching 9.825. Stephen scored a 9.825 before Harkness added a 9.875 in the fourth spot. Smith captured her third floor title of the season and third 9.900-plus score in the last four meets with a 9.900, and Schulte anchored with a 9.875.
Stephen finished second in the all-around behind Schulte with a 39.250. With her all-around and beam wins on Sunday, Schulte now owns a team-high 11 event titles this season.
MSU will look to capture its second-straight Big Ten regular season title at the Big Five Meet, hosted by Penn State, on Friday, Feb. 23. The Spartans will face Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State and Rutgers at 6 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
Players Mentioned
