Schulte, Smith Qualify for NCAA Gymnastics Championships
4/8/2024 3:25:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State junior Skyla Schulte and sophomore Nikki Smith have qualified to the 2024 NCAA Gymnastics Championships and will represent the Spartans in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 18, the NCAA announced Monday.Â
Schulte will compete on floor as an individual and Smith will compete on beam.Â
The Spartans have now sent individual qualifiers to the NCAA Championships in three consecutive seasons and two or more individual qualifiers in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1996-97. Schulte, who is making her second trip to the NCAA Championships in three seasons, is the first Spartan to qualify for multiple NCAA Championships since Rochelle Robinson in 2007-08 and just the third overall, joining Robinson and Jodi Blotcher (1993, 1996).Â
Schulte finished in a five-way tie for fifth place on floor in the second round of the NCAA Gainesville Regional with a 9.900 and won on a four-judge total tiebreaker to secure her spot as the top individual not on a qualifying team. Smith, who made just her third appearance in the beam lineup of the season in the regional second round, earned a career-high 9.950 to earn a share of second place on the event.Â
Schulte is making her first appearance at the NCAA Championships since 2022, where she earned Second-Team All-American honors as a freshman on beam to become MSU's first beam All-American and third All-American overall. She holds a national qualifying score of 9.940 on floor which ranks 23rd nationally. Schulte won a share of the Big Ten floor title at this year's conference championships and has posted 11 scores of 9.900 or better on the event this season, including three 9.950s and a 9.975.Â
Smith will make her first trip to the NCAA Championships and is the third individual beam qualifier for the Spartans in the last three years, following Schulte in 2022 and current junior Gabrielle Stephen last season. Her 9.950 in Gainesville sits in a tie for the second-best score on beam in MSU history.Â
With Schulte and Smith's qualifications, MSU has earned 20 overall individual bids to the NCAA Championships.Â
Individual athletes at the NCAA Championships will compete in the semifinal round on April 18 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. Schulte and Smith will compete in the first of two sessions at 4:30 p.m. ET and rotate with Stanford. ESPN2 will broadcast the NCAA Championships with individual event streams available on ESPN+.Â
Players Mentioned
