No. 25 Michigan State Gymnastics Hosts No. 15 Michigan
3/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
March 1, 2007
Spartan Meet Notes
EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 25 Michigan State continues the 2007 regular season this Saturday when it hosts Big Ten rival No. 15 Michigan at Jenison Field House at 7 p.m. The Spartans defeated the Wolverines in the first meeting between the league rivals this season at the Feb. 3 State of Michigan Classic, 196.350-195.775. U-M has won the last 15 dual-meets in the all-time series between the two schools.
West Virginia Meet Recap
The Michigan State gymnastics team suffered a 194.875-194.275 defeat to No. 20 West Virginia last Friday night in Morgantown. Despite the loss, the team total was MSU's top road score of the season. Kristen Coleman (39.200) and Nicole Curler (39.050) took second and third, respectively, in the all-around as State's top finishers at the event. Coleman posted a 9.875 on the balance beam to capture MSU's lone individual first-place finish against the Mountaineers. Freshman all-arounder Rochelle Robinson did not compete due to an injury she suffered in preparation for the weekend event.
Scouting The Wolverines
Michigan most recently suffered a 196.225-193.800 defeat to No. 5 Utah on Feb. 23. The team total was the lowest for the Wolverines this season. Tatjana Thuenor-Rego finished third in the all-around with a 39.025, while she also added a first-place finish on vault (9.900). Huneth Lor was the top Wolverine finisher in the all-around, claiming second with a 39.075.
National Spotlight
At this point in the season, the GymInfo Top 25 Poll is based on team and individual RQS (Regional Qualifying Score) scores. An RQS score is generated from a team or individual's top six regular-season scores, with three scores coming from away meets. After a week-long absence from the top 25 poll due to a lack of away meet tallys, Michigan State re-enters the rankings this week at No. 25 after posting a 194.275 at West Virginia, its highest away-meet score thus far in 2007.
Individual Notoriety
Senior tumbler Kristen Coleman also re-enters the national rankings this week after scoring in her third away meet of the year. The Cornwall, Ontario, native ranks 13th in the all-around with a season average of 39.170, while she also ranks 17th on the balance beam (9.800).
First Go `Around'
Freshman Megan Bergland competed in her first-career all-around competition against West Virginia, stepping in for injured teammate Rochelle Robinson. The Richland, Mich., native posted season highs on vault (9.625) and floor (9.625), and scored a 38.725 to finish fourth in the all-around.
Big Ten Gymnast Of The Week
Only one of this season's Big Ten Gymnast of the Week award winners has come from a school other than Michigan State or Michigan, due to the fact that neither team competed that week. Penn State's Brandi Personett won the league honor on Jan. 9.
This And That
Through the first seven meets of the season, the freshmen class has accounted for 14 first-place individual event finishes and one top score in the all-around competition. At least two freshmen have competed in each event at every meet for the Spartans this season. The exception falls in the all-around competition, where only one freshman competed on all four events in the season opener versus Arizona, and against Illinois.
History Maker
Rochelle Robinson's perfect 10.0 on vault at the Fox Run Invitational on Feb. 10 marks the first flawless score ever recorded by a Spartan gymnast. The Chesapeake, Va., native now holds the top three spots all-time on vault. She set the previous Spartan benchmark with a 9.950 at the Flip For the Cure Meet on Jan. 27.
Kudos "All-Around"
Michigan State has swept the top three spots in the all-around competition just one time this season. Kristen Coleman won her third straight all-around title with a 39.375, while Robinson (38.875) and Katlyn Roggensack (38.775) finished second and third, respectively, at the Fox Run Invitational on Feb. 10.
Spartan Honor Roll
After not receiving a Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honoree since the 2005 season, Michigan State has earned the honor four times in 2007. Freshman Rochelle Robinson earned her second Gymnast of the Week accolade after becoming the first gymnast in Michigan State history to record a perfect score when she posted a 10.0 on vault at the Fox Run Invitational on Feb. 10. She also claimed second place in the all-around competition with a 38.875. Robinson currently holds the top three vault scores on the MSU all-time record chart. She shared the Feb. 14 weekly honor with Michigan's Tatjana Thuenor-Rego.
Robinson garnered her first career Gymnast of the Week honor on Feb. 7 for her outstanding performance at the State of Michigan Classic on Feb. 3. She claimed top honors on vault and floor exercise with a pair of 9.925 scores, and also matched teammate Kristen Coleman's first-place finish on the uneven bars with a mark of 9.825. Robinson helped the Spartans claim the State of Michigan Classic team title, their first since the 2003 season.
Kristen Coleman won the weekly league laurel on Jan. 31 for her record-breaking performance at the Jan. 27 Flip For The Cure Meet. Coleman set a new Spartan benchmark with a 39.525 in the all-around competition, adding first-place finishes on the bars (9.950) and balance beam (9.850), while she tied with teammate Nicole Curler for first place on the floor exercise (9.850).
Freshman tumbler Nicole Curler earned her first-career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor on Jan. 17. Curler picked up the weekly honor after winning both the balance beam (9.925) and floor exercise (9.875), while also tying for first in the all-around against No. 16 Arizona on Jan. 12. The Bay City, Mich., native tied with teammate Kristen Coleman in the all-around competition, tallying a mark of 39.400. Curler helped MSU achieve its highest team mark on the uneven bars since the 2000 season and the third-highest in Spartan history (49.325).
Career Performances
Several Spartans have posted career highs in 2007, including senior Kristen Coleman, who has set four this season. Her 9.950 on the uneven bars at the Flip For the Cure Meet (1/27), her balance beam routine that scored a 9.950 at the Fox Run Invitational (2/10) and her floor exercise score of 9.900 at the State of Michigan Classic (2/3) were all career bests for the Cornwall, Ontario, native. In addition, her all-around mark of 39.525 at the Flip For The Cure Meet set a new Spartan benchmark in that category. Sophomore Katlyn Roggensack has also posted four career highs in 2007. Her most recent highs came at the State of Michigan Classic on Feb. 3. She earned a 9.825 on the floor exercise and compiled an all-around mark of 38.975, setting career highs in both categories.
Three Strong
Freshman Rochelle Robinson claimed three individual titles at the prestigious State of Michigan Classic on Feb. 3. She claimed top honors on the vault and floor exercise with a pair of 9.925's, while matching teammate Kristen Coleman for first place on the uneven bars with a mark of 9.825.
Head Coach Kathie Klages
Kathie Klages is in her 17th season at the helm of the Michigan State gymnastics program in 2007. She is a three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year award winner, and has been named Central Region Coach of the Year four times. Klages' teams have been consistently successful, as she has posted a winning record in each of her previous 16 seasons leading the Green and White. In 2006, Klages guided MSU to a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championship Meet, mentored the 10th Big Ten individual event champion in school history (Chayla Hill, vault) and led State to its 15th appearance in NCAA Regional competition.
Scoring Rundown
Unlike other collegiate athletic rankings, collegiate gymnastic rankings are not based on wins and losses or votes. Gymnastic teams are ranked by their meet scores alone. Teams are ranked by their highest score during the opening portion of the season and are then ranked by their total season average. The teams finish the dual-meet season ranked by their Regional Qualifying Score (RQS). A RQS is based on a team's top six regular-season scores, with three scores coming from away meets. To obtain the RQS, the team's or gymnast's highest score is dropped and the remaining five scores are averaged.
Spartan Gymnastics Signs Two For 2008
Two gymnasts have signed National Letters of Intent to attend Michigan State, beginning with the 2007 fall semester. Nicole Argiros (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson High School/Michigan Academy of Gymnastics) and Kathryn Mahoney (Western Spring, Ill./Lyons Township High School/Illinois Gymnastics Institute) will don the Green and White for the 2008 season.
Meet-By-Meet Recap
Illinois Dual
Rochelle Robinson was the only Spartan tumbler to garner an individual first-place finish (9.850, vault) in a loss to fellow Big Ten competitor Illinois on Feb. 17. MSU's Kristen Coleman tied for second as the top Spartan finisher on the uneven bars with a 9.800, Robinson finished tied for third on the balance beam with a season high 9.750, and Coleman and Robinson matched scores of 9.800 to finish tied for second on the floor exercise. Robinson closed a solid all-around effort with a second-place mark of 38.825, while Katlyn Roggensack turned in another consistent all-around performance with a third-place finish of 38.800. Illinois tumbler Nicole Cowart won the all-around title with a 39.025.
Fox Run Invitational
Behind Rochelle Robinson's perfect 10.0 on vault, MSU won its second straight meet with a team score of 194.000 at the Fox Run Invitational on Feb. 10. Robinson's flawless score was the first perfect 10 in Spartan gymnastics history. Host New Hampshire took second with a 193.925, followed by No. 22 West Virginia (193.075) and Brown (184.500).
State Of Michigan Classic
Michigan State won its first State of Michigan Classic since the 2003 season on Feb. 3 at Jenison Field House, posting a season-best team score of 196.350. State defeated then-No. 9 Michigan, who finished second with a score of 195.775, followed by Central Michigan in third (193.475), Eastern Michigan in fourth (193.125) and Western Michigan (191.975) in fifth. Spartan tumbler Kristen Coleman claimed her second consecutive all-around crown with a mark of 39.450, while MSU's Nicole Curler finished second with a score of 39.350.
Flip For The Cure Meet
Despite a school-record and first-place performance of 39.525 by Kristen Coleman in the all-around competition, the Michigan State gymnastics team suffered a 194.850-194.425 defeat to Ohio State on Jan. 27. UIC also competed in the Flip For The Cure Meet, which benefited the American Cancer Society Strides For Breast Cancer cause, finishing third with an overall score of 190.125. Coleman took first-place honors on the uneven bars (9.950) and balance beam (9.850), and finished tied for first on the floor exercise with teammate Nicole Curler with a mark of 9.850. Coleman's all-around tally was the highest Spartan mark since the 1996 season.
Pittsburgh Quad Meet
Despite three Spartans finishing in the top five of the all-around competition, the ninth-ranked Michigan State gymnastics team posted a 192.150, finishing second to No. 11 West Virginia (193.150) and defeating host Pittsburgh (190.725) and Maryland (189.375) last friday. Freshman tumbler Rochelle Robinson was the top finisher in the all-around for the Green and White, posting a 38.825 to finish second, while teammates Katlyn Roggensack (38.450) and Kristen Coleman (38.425) finished third and fourth, respectively.
Arizona Dual
The 22nd-ranked Michigan State gymnastics team fell to No. 16 Arizona, 194.975-194.925, in the opening meet of the season for both teams at Jenison Field House on Jan. 12. Senior Kristen Coleman and freshman Nicole Curler each posted a 39.400 to tie for first place in the all-around competition for the Green and White, while Arizona's Aubrey Kelly finished third with a score of 39.000.
Players Mentioned
