Michigan State University
Illinois
Gymnastics Ties No. 18 Illinois
2/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Feb. 17, 2012
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Spartan gymnasts faced No. 18 Illinois on Friday (Feb. 17) to compete for the Victory Plank in Champaign, Ill. Michigan State rose to the occasion to post season-high scores of 49.000 on the beam and 195.175 overall. MSU originally won the competition but an inquiry decided the meet was a tie.
"I'm very proud of my team tonight," said head coach Kathie Klages. "I was disappointed in the floor exercise because I thought our gymnasts performed the best they have this year but the scores didn't reflect that. Even though the meet ended in a tie, we are bringing the Victory Plank home and I'm really happy with our perfomance."
MSU began the night on the uneven bars where senior Jackie Berg tied her personal-best 9.875 to win the event. Illinois took home second and third place with scores of 9.850 and 9.825, respectively. Freshman Alina Cartwright also competed on the bars and earned a 9.775 score for the third straight week. Michigan State notched a team score of 48.775 for the rotation
Two Spartans placed on the vault including Taira Neal who tied her career-high 9.925. The redshirt sophomore was the top gymnast on the event for the fourth straight and sixth overall win. Freshman Ashley Noll earned a 9.800 on the vault, which put her in second place. Kelsey Joannides of Illinois was third with a 9.775 score. As a team, MSU tied its season-high score on the vault with a 48.875 overall score.
The Spartans stepped up their beam performance for the Victory Plank trophy as they posted a season-high 49.000 in the event. For the first time since the season opener, Neal competed on the beam and tallied a career-best 9.825 mark. Sophomore Sarena Bumbarger also notched a personal-best in the event with a 9.875 score and first place finish.
Sophomore Alex Pace tallied a personal-high 9.725 in the floor routine, but the Illini swept all awards in the event. Michigan State finished with a 48.525 team score.
Michigan State is back in East Lansing next week when they host Ball State on Friday (Feb. 24). Competition will begin at 7 p.m. (ET) at the Jenison Field House.
Players Mentioned
