Michigan State University Athletics
Four Spartans Earn All-Big Ten Gymnastics Honors
3/18/2026 3:00:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
ROSEMONT, Ill. - Four Michigan State gymnasts were named to 2026 Women's Gymnastics All-Big Ten teams, the conference announced Wednesday afternoon.Â
MSU earned three first-team selections – seniors Sage Kellerman and Nikki Smith and junior MaKayla Tucker – while senior Olivia Zsarmani was named Second Team All-Big Ten. The Spartans' three first-team selections are tied for the most with UCLA.Â
With Wednesday's selections, Smith joins former Spartan All-Americans Skyla Schulte and Gabrielle Stephen as the third gymnast in program history to earn four First Team All-Big Ten honors. Kellerman becomes a three-time First Team All-Big Ten selection (2024-26), one of five in program history (Schulte, Smith, Stephen and current associate head coach Nicole Jones), while both Tucker and Zsarmani earn their second-career All-Big Ten honors.Â
Kellerman earns her third-consecutive First Team All-Big Ten nod after competing in every vault and bars lineup for the Spartans this season, posting national qualifying scores (NQS) of 9.920 on vault and 9.910 on bars. The Croswell, Michigan, native ranks in the top 25 nationally on both events, sitting in a tie for eighth on vault and a tie for 25th on bars, and holds four titles on each event this season.Â
Smith, who hails from West Bloomfield, Michigan, has competed in the all-around in every meet this season and ranks 10th nationally in the all-around with an NQS of 39.515. She holds a team-high four all-around titles and has combined for 11 individual event titles this season. Smith owns season highs of 9.950 on vault, 9.925 on bars and beam and a perfect 10.000 on floor, while she also tied for the third-highest all-around score in program history with a 39.725 at Auburn on March 6. Although she excels on all four events, Smith has been spectacular on floor this season with eight scores of 9.925 or better on the event and a No. 7 national ranking (9.945 NQS). She was also named a finalist for the American Athletic Inc. (AAI) Award on Wednesday, which is given annually to the nation's top senior gymnast.Â
Tucker has joined Smith in the all-around in every meet this season and collects her second-career All-Big Ten honor and first-career First Team nod after being named Second Team All-Big Ten in 2024. After competing in the majority of MSU's vault and floor lineups during her first two seasons, Tucker made her collegiate all-around debut in MSU's season opener and posted a career-high 39.625, tied for the 10th-best all-around score in school history, at Auburn on March 6. She holds season highs of 9.900 on vault, bars and beam and 9.950 on floor, setting career highs on bars, beam and floor this season. The Fishers, Indiana, native, has scored a 9.900 or better on floor seven times this season and ranks 20th nationally on the event (9.925 NQS) while ranking 11th nationally in the all-around with an NQS of 39.470.Â
Zsarmani, a Statesville, North Carolina, native, becomes a back-to-back Second Team All-Big Ten honoree with Wednesday's announcement. She has appeared in seven vault lineups, six bars lineups, three beam lineups and one floor lineup in 2026 and made her season all-around debut in MSU's regular-season finale against Brown with a 39.400. Zsarmani holds season highs of 9.975 on vault, 9.900 on bars, 9.925 on beam and 9.850 on floor and was named the conference's Big Ten Specialist of the Week on Feb. 24 this season. Â
Senior Stephanie Lebster was named MSU's recipient for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, given to one student-athlete from each school who has distinguished themselves through sportsmanship, ethical behavior and demonstrates good citizenship outside of the competition field. Lebster has competed in the lead off spot on floor in every meet in 2026 and holds a season and career-high 9.900 on the event.Â
MSU travels to Champaign, Illinois, to compete in the third session of the Big Ten Championships on Saturday, March 21 inside Illinois' State Farm Center. The Spartans will take on UCLA, Michigan and Minnesota at 6 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.Â
Players Mentioned
