Women's Gymnastics Set For Big Ten Championships
3/14/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
March 14, 2000
NEXT MEET - The Spartans travel to State College, Pa., for the Big Ten Championships on Saturday, March 18 at 6 p.m.
LAST YEAR - The Spartans literally limped into the Big Ten Championships, ending the year with just seven healthy gymnasts. The team managed a sixth place finish with a score of 191.600. Melissa Green qualified for the NCAA regionals as an all-arounder and placed seventh, narrowly missing out on an NCAA berth.
BIG TEN BITS - The highest MSU has ever finished at the Big Ten meet is second. The Spartans did that in 1982, '85, '87, '88, '90, '95 and '96. Erin Mullen and Polly Kiker are the two Spartans on the team that have been named All-Big Ten. Mullen earned her way onto the team with a 38.900 third-place performance in the all-around in 1996. Kiker was All-Big Ten in 1998 by virtue of a 9.850 on the floor that tied her for third.
LAST MEET - The Spartans took third at the NC State Wolfpack Invitational on Saturday, March 11, tallying the fourth highest score in school history with a 195.550. Melissa Green tied the school record on the uneven bars with a 9.975 to tie for first. She also hit a 9.925 on the floor. Despite a school record-tying 9.975, Polly Kiker placed just third on the floor. She also tied for second on the balance beam (9.900) and took fourth on the bars with a 9.875. Elisabeth Forshier also placed, tying for fifth on the vault with a 9.850. MSU's vault (48.825) and bars (49.150) were both second-highest on the season.
RECORDING HISTORY - On Feb. 19 v. Pittsburgh, MSU scored the second-best team score (196.100) and floor score (49.475) in school history. The Spartans' bar score (49.425) was third best and their vault score (48.900) was ninth best. Individually, Melissa Green tallied the second-best all-around score in school history with a 39.400. She also had the then-second-best bars score (9.950) and tied the school record on the floor (9.975). Polly Kiker hit the then-third-best floor score (9.950) and Elisabeth Forshier tied for the fourth-best vault score (9.900).
RECORDING MORE HISTORY - On March 11, MSU etched more records into its all-time book. The Spartans had the fourth-best team score (195.550) and their bars score (49.150) and floor score (49.250) were both sixth-best. Individually, Melissa Green tied the school record on the bars (9.975) and had the sixth-best score on floor (9.925) while Polly Kiker tied the school record on the floor (9.975) and hit the fifth-best score on beam (9.900).
OPPONENTS ENVY GREEN - Junior Melissa Green is turning in one of the finest all-around performances in school history this season. She has tied two school records (9.975 on bars and 9.975 on floor) and hit the second-best all-around score (39.400). Green also leads the team with a 39.081 all-around average, a 9.883 average on the bars and a 9.854 average on the floor. She has the team's third-best vault (9.669) and beam (9.607).
POLLY POWER - Senior Polly Kiker is peaking at just the right time for the Spartans. She had one of the best meets of her career last week at the Wolfpack Invitational where she tied the school record on the floor (9.975) to place third, hit the fifth-best score in MSU history on the beam (9.900) to tie for second and took fourth on the bars with a 9.875. Kiker is third on the team in floor average (9.698) and fifth on the bars (9.633) and beam (9.553).
FRESHMEN PHENOMS - Four freshmen regularly contribute to MSU's lineup. Lindsay Trainham has competed in every meet and done the all-around six times for a 38.571 average. Christy Linder, who has been injured the last three meets, competed in the all-around in MSU's first seven meets and averages 38.450. Linder has the team's second-best beam average at 9.614. Ilene Cohen specializes in the bars and beam. She leads the team with a 9.713 beam average and is second on the bars at 9.704. Diana Crea competes on the bars and floor. She is fourth on the team in bars average (9.653) and sixth on the floor (9.613).
IN THE RANKINGS - Michigan State moved into the top 25, based on Regional Qualifying Score in the March 14 poll. The Spartans are No. 23 with a RQS of 194.610. As a team, MSU is also tied for 18th in the uneven bars (48.910). Individually, Melissa Green is tied for 11th on the uneven bars with a RQS of 9.905 and Polly Kiker is tied for 23rd on the floor (9.890). New rankings are updated every Tuesday at www.troester.com.
