Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
West Virginia/Western Michigan/Iowa State
Gymnastics Open Season With A Second-Place Finish
1/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 11, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State women's gymnastics team opened the 2001-2002 season hosting No. 20 Iowa State, No. 21 West Virginia and Western Michigan Friday at Jenison Fieldhouse. The Spartans took second place with an overall team score of 194.650, the highest team score ever tallied by Michigan State in an opening meet. The previous record was set in 1996 at 191.900 by a Spartan team that went on to finish the season 27-3. Iowa State won the meet with a final score of 195.175, while West Virginia took third place at 189.925. Western Michigan scored 188.025 for fourth place.
Junior Christy Linder (Fremont, Ohio/Freemont Ross) greatly impacted the Spartan finish, scoring 39.400 across all events to take first place in the all-around. Linder's score is a second-place tie for the highest all-around score for an MSU gymnast. In addition to finishing second in both the vault (9.850) and uneven bars (9.875), Linder won the balance beam event at 9.825.
Assistant coach Tom Holloway shared his thoughts on Linder's performance: "We expected big things from Christy tonight. If she stays healthy throughout the season she's going to make a great impact."
Junior Ilene Cohen (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) was another key gymnast on the Spartan roster. She placed second on the beam with a score of 9.750. She also attained a personal-best on the uneven bar event at 9.825 for a fifth-place finish.
Junior Julie Devaty (North Olmsted, Ohio/Magnificat) contributed a 9.800 on the floor exercise, while the Spartans collected 9.775 scores from freshman Lauren Simpson (Fenton, Mich./Linden) on the vault, freshman Kristin Merritt (Racine, Wis./Washington Park) on the bars, and junior Lindsay Trainham (Briarcliff, N.Y./Good Counsel Academy) and freshman Jennifer Yarbrough (Williamston, Mich./Williamston) on the floor.
On the overall team performance, Holloway commented, "The team did a wonderful job tonight. This was a good starting point for us, because we know we can improve our routines. There can be even more building and more fine tuning."
The Spartans look to finish strong again at their next meet on Saturday, January 19th against No. 16 Iowa at Jenison Fieldhouse at 7 p.m.
