Michigan State University
Rutgers
No. 7 Gymnastics Earns 197.475-196.275 Win Over Rutgers in Final B1G Dual
2/22/2025 5:57:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 7 Michigan State gymnastics earned a 197.475-196.275 win over Rutgers in the Spartans' final Big Ten dual meet of the season Saturday afternoon inside Jenison Field House.
MSU moves to 8-2 overall this season with the victory and 5-1 in conference action, while Rutgers falls to 12-6 (1-5 B1G).
The Spartans earned at least a share of every event and the all-around title for the third time this season and swept the podium in all but one event. Senior Gabrielle Stephen won her second all-around title of the season with a season-high 39.500, while junior Olivia Zsarmani won the vault title, juniors Nikki Smith and Sage Kellerman shared the bars title, fifth-year senior Giana Kalefe collected the beam title and senior Skyla Schulte captured the floor title. MSU's 197.475 tied its second-highest score this season, bringing the Spartans' national qualifying score (NQS) to a 197.135 through eight weeks of the season.
"There are a lot of standout performances from today," said head coach Mike Rowe. "Bars and vault started us off strong and that's what we need to get up to a 198.000 (team score). That's the magic number. We're in week eight, we have four more weeks in the regular season including the Big Ten Championships, so we still have room to drop some low scores and move up where we want to move up."
MSU took a 49.450-48.925 lead over Rutgers after the first rotation with its seventh score of 49.300 or better on vault this season. The Spartans took the top five spots on the event, led by Zsarmani with a season-high tying 9.950 for her third vault title of the season. Smith finished second with a 9.925 and Stephen rounded out the podium with a 9.875. In the leadoff position, sophomore MaKayla Tucker scored a 9.850 and freshman Amy Doyle scored a matching 9.850 in the No. 2 spot. MSU's 49.450 tied the seventh-best score in program history on the event.
A season-high 49.575 on bars, MSU's highest-scoring event of the day, gave the Spartans a 99.025-97.975 lead at the halfway mark. Kellerman and Smith tied for the event title with matching 9.950s, with Smith notching a season high and Kellerman tying a career high. Smith's title was her fourth of the season and Kellerman's was her fifth in MSU's last six meets. Stephen finished third with a season-high 9.925, Doyle and Zsarmani scored 9.875s and fifth-year senior Delanie Harkness earned a 9.850 to help the Spartans take the top six spots on the event. Doyle's 9.875 matched a career high, where she also competed in the leadoff spot for the first time this season. The Spartans tied the second-highest score in school history with their 49.575.
The Spartans put up their second-best beam score of the season, a 49.300, to take a 148.325-147.175 lead over the Scarlet Knights after three rotations. Kalefe captured her first beam title of the season with a career-high 9.950 in the leadoff spot and was followed by Schulte in second, who tied a season-high 9.925. Smith scored a 9.850, Stephen anchored with a 9.800 and Doyle made her beam lineup debut with a 9.775.
MSU closed out the meet on floor with a 49.150 in the final rotation. Schulte scored a 9.925 to earn her fifth floor title of the season and fifth score of 9.900 or better on the event in 2025. Harkness, appearing in the leadoff spot for the first time this season, scored a season-high 9.900 alongside Stephen to complete the podium sweep for the Spartans. Making her second floor appearance of the season, sophomore Emma Misenheimer scored a career-high 9.850.
Up next, MSU wraps up Big Ten regular season action at the Big Four Meet against Iowa, Penn State and Washington on Sunday, March 2 at 7 p.m. inside Iowa's Xtream Arena in Coralville. The meet will air on Big Ten Network.
Players Mentioned
