MSU Gymnastics Announces 2015 Schedule
9/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's gymnastics has announced the 2015 on Friday. In 2014, the team finished 39th in the country and eighth in the Big Ten.
"The focus of this team is to vastly improve our standings in the Big Ten Conference," MSU head coach Kathie Klages said. "Our goal is to qualify for the night session at the Big Ten Championships and to improve our national ranking."
The Spartans open up the season on Saturday, Jan. 10 at Bowling Green University. Bowling Green finished 40th in the country last year and third in the Mid-American Conference.
"Our opening competition will be with a MAC school that has greatly improved over the last few seasons," said Klages. "It will be a great gage for this team going into the five-week Big Ten schedule. In the Big Ten season, we meet two of the Big Ten teams that qualified to nationals last season."
The Spartans will start the league action on the road at Iowa on Jan. 18. In 2014, the Spartans topped Iowa in front of a season-high crowd at Jenison Fieldhouse.
The team will return to East Lansing on Jan. 24 for their home opener against Minnesota. Last season, the Gophers finished 19th in the country and fourth in the Big Ten.
On Saturday Jan. 31, the Spartans will travel to New Brunswick, N.J. to the campus of Big Ten newcomer Rutgers, for their first quad meet of the year. The team will face Rutgers, Brown and Wisconsin Osh Kosh.
The Spartans will continue their Big Ten slate when they travel to State College, Pa., on Saturday, Feb. 7 to take on Penn State. The Nittany Lions finished fifth in the conference last season.
Returning home, the Spartans will go head-to-head with in-state rival Michigan on Friday, Feb. 13 at Jenison Fieldhouse. The Wolverines, finished first in the Big Ten last season, will be a true test for Michigan State.
Just two days later, on Sunday, Feb. 15, MSU will welcome Pittsburgh back to East Lansing for the second time in two years.
"Competing twice in a weekend demands huge mental and physical toughness," said Klages. "We do it twice this season, back-to-back."
The Spartans will then head back on the road for another double meet weekend. "We have elected to have an additional dual meet against Illinois to vie for the Victory Plank, our rivalry trophy," said Klages.
The team will face Illinois on Friday, Feb. 20 in the heart of Big Ten competition. Just two days later, on Sunday, Feb 22, the team will travel to the University of Illinois at Chicago for a non-conference matchup.
On Friday Feb. 27, the Spartans will travel to Towson for the second quad meet of the season. At this meet, the Spartans will face Towson, Rutgers and Yale.
After three consecutive meets on the road, Michigan State will return to East Lansing on Friday, March 6 to conclude the regular season.
"We finish the season with a home triangular with Arizona, a perennial top-20 program and Eastern Michigan, who has an entirely new coaching staff this year," said Klages. Although the 2015 regular-season competition at Jenison will have concluded, the season will be far from over.
"The remaining Big Ten teams we will meet at our Big 5 meet at Nebraska prior to the Big Ten Championships, hence, meeting all teams in the Big Ten. The Big 5 will include national qualifiers Nebraska and Illinois," Klages said.
With goals to improve their standings in the Big Ten, the Spartans are hard at work with the season approaching.
Earlier this year, Klages welcomed Mike Rowe to serve as the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach.
"Mike brings such a positive energy to the program," said Klages. "We expect his passion and enthusiasm to help guide the team members through our long and demanding season. In his short time here, he has already helped change the daily atmosphere in the gym."
With the addition of Rowe, the program set the following goals for the upcoming season.
"The Big Ten is a tough conference, and we welcome the challenge," said Klages. "We are thrilled that the two new Big Ten teams [Maryland and Rutgers] have women's gymnastics and their addition truly make our conference stronger. Both programs had an outstanding 2014 campaign and their addition brings improved competitiveness to the conference.
"The season will be such a great preparation for the postseason of Big Ten Championships, NCAA Regionals and Nationals," said Klages. "We can't wait to see what this season will bring. I expect it to be a very special year!"