Michigan State University Athletics
Women's Gymnastics Releases 2016 Schedule
10/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
The Michigan State women's gymnastics program has announced its 2016 schedule, which features four home meets against Big Ten competitors Iowa, Rutgers, Penn State and Illinois. The Spartans' schedule also pits MSU against gymnastics powerhouses Boise State and Arizona. The team will be coming off of finishing 26th in the country in the final GymInfo poll and seventh in the Big Ten. The Spartans also finished fourth last year in the NCAA Ames Regional.
Michigan State head coach Kathie Klages, who enters her 26th year and is the longest tenured head coach at Michigan State, said Spartan gymnastics will be looking to raise the bar this year.
"Our schedule for 2016 is one filled with high-ranking teams," Klages said. "As we raise the bar in the gym, we also raise the bar with our schedule. It is my belief that you have to compete against the best to improve and beat the best."
Two exhibition events will be held before Michigan State starts its regular season. The Green and White Meet will be an intrasquad competition slated for Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015 at 2 p.m.
Meet the Spartans will be held on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016. There will be a Gymnastics 101 session where Spartan gymnasts will perform and coaching staff will provide helpful insight into the world of gymnastics and judging standards. There will be an opportunity for a meet and greet session with the team as well as refreshments and apparel available for purchase as provided by the Perfect 10.0 booster club.
The Spartans will leap into the New Year by traveling to Tuscon, Arizona on Jan. 8 to take on Arizona. The Lady GymCats finished 17th in the nation along with qualifying for the Columbus NCAA Regional.
"We are thrilled that our season opener will be aired live on the Pac-12 Network," Klages said. "Arizona is a great opponent to begin our season and see where we stand."
The first home meet on Jan. 15 will feature both the MSU women's gymnastics and wrestling teams in a "Tumbles and Take Downs" event as the women will be competing against Iowa at 7 p.m., and the wrestlers will take on Purdue at 7 p.m. The Hawkeyes qualified for the Auburn Regional in addition finishing No. 31 in the final poll. Klages called the event a "nice addition" to this year's schedule.
The team will travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota for its conference road opener against Minnesota on Jan. 23. The Spartans will be looking to avenge last year's loss to the Gophers, which was determined by a 1.125 point decision. Minnesota finished 23rd in the nation last season.
January 30 will not only be a quad meet featuring Big Ten opponent Rutgers alongside Towson and Pittsburgh, but it will also be the Autism Awareness Meet as well as the Alumni Meet. Michigan State alumnae are invited back to Jenison Fieldhouse to be recognized at the end of the meet. MSU will be going up against opponents who finished 46th, 43rd, and 51st in the country last year respectively.
The team will turn around and host Penn State, who ranked 22nd at the end of last season, Saturday, Feb. 6 for its Jan Howard Memorial Breast Cancer Awareness Meet. The Nittany Lions finished fourth in the Big Ten last season.
In a special Valentine's Day meeting, the Spartans will take on last season's Big Ten regular and tournament champion Michigan in Ann Arbor. Michigan, whose performance earned them a No. 7 postseason ranking, had the highest national finish of any Big Ten school. The Wolverines qualified for the Columbus NCAA Regional.
Returning home to East Lansing, the Spartans will host Illinois for its senior night Feb. 19. The team will honor seniors Lisa Burt, Nicola Deans, Brittany Holmes, Ashley Noll along with graduate student Haley Sedgewick. The Illini finished second in the league last year, finishing 13th in the country.
The first of three road challenges, the Feb. 28 meeting at Illinois State will be a quad meet with the Redbirds along with Western Michigan and Wisconsin Stout. The Spartans' opponents finished 53rd, 40th and 77th respectively in the final poll.
Heading to the west coast to take on the University of California, Berkeley March 4, the Golden Bears will be a tough opponent, as they finished 18th last season along with hosting the Berkeley NCAA Regional.
On the final leg of grueling competition before the Big Five Meet, the Spartans will travel to Boise State, who qualified for the NCAA Berkeley Regional, on March 6. The Broncos are coming off of rounding out the top 20 finishers in the NCAA Championships.
Klages said that the Spartans will be challenged by both Big Ten opponents as well as programs who have improved in recent years.
"Big Ten foes will present a challenge each and every week with our conference continually improving our national presence," Klages said. "Our last portion of our regular season includes a double meet weekend out west with Cal and Boise State as both programs have made huge improvements over the last couple of seasons. We finish the regular season with another Big Ten challenge in our Big Five meet against the remaining teams we have not met. This meet will determine session placement in the Big Ten Championship meet."
MSU will face eight top 25 teams in its upcoming season. Eleven of the Spartans' opponents this season qualified for the NCAA Regionals.
This year the Big Ten Championships will be hosted in Lincoln, Nebraska on March 19 with the first session beginning at 12:05 p.m. followed by the second session at 5:05 p.m.
"The Spartans are working hard to meet this challenge and improve upon our national ranking from last season," Klages said. "We are looking forward to seeing all of our fans back in Jenison for the 2016 season."
Players Mentioned
