Spartans Head to Illinois For Double-Meet Weekend
2/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
| Michigan State at Illinois and UIC | |
| Dates | vs. Illinois - Friday, February 20, 2015 vs. UIC - Sunday, February 22, 2015 Champaign, Ill. Huff Hall Chicago, Ill.UIC Pavilion |
| Video Stream | www.fightingillini.com www.uicflames.com |
| Live Scoring | www.fightingillini.com www.uicflames.com |
| Social Media | @MSUgymnastics  | Facebook  |
SERIES NOTES
• Michigan State travels to Champaign, Ill. on Friday, Feb. 20 to compete for the Victory Plank against Big Ten foe Illinois. Just two days later, on Feb. 22, the team will face UIC in Chicago. This will mark the second-straight two-meet weekend for the Spartans.
• The Spartans hold a 55-35-1 all-time series record over the Fighting Illini. Illinois currently ranks 13th in the national poll, averaging a 195.996, while the Spartans sit at 28th with a 194.832 average. The last time the two schools met was on Jan. 10, 2014, where the Spartans fell to the Illini in East Lansing by a score of 195.352-194.150. This meeting between the conference rivals will not count toward the B1G standings.
• Michigan State has seen UIC just 25 times over 41 years of program history. The Spartans hold a 20-5 all-time series record over the Flames, who currently rank 60th in the national poll with a 190.604 average.
TEAM NOTES
• Last weekend, the Spartans went 1-1, falling to Michigan by a 196.725-194.850 margin, but outscoring Pittsburgh 195.150-194.275. The Spartans move to 6-4 overall, 2-3 in the Big Ten.
• Despite the loss against Michigan, the Spartans scored a season-high 48.975 on bars in front of 1,440 fans at the annual Alumni Meet.
• Voted a 2015 Big Ten Gymnast to Watch after a successful 2014 campaign, senior Alina Cartwright was able to compete on bars for just the third time this season. Due to injury, Cartwright has been unable to compete since MSU traveled to Bowling Green in the 2015 season opener. Against Michigan, Cartwright matched her career-high 9.825 and tied for fourth on the event.
• Junior Lisa Burt continues her successful 2015 campaign this weekend, tying for second all-around against Michigan with a 39.400 and taking the event title against Pittsburgh with a 39.125. Burt now has four all-around crowns and two second-place finishes in the first seven meets of the season.
• Last Sunday, the Spartans swept top medalist honors in a 195.150-194.275 win over Pittsburgh. As a team, the Spartans captured event titles on vault, bars and floor, while marking seven career highs on the day.
• Sophomore Mackenzie Smith competed on vault for her first time as a Spartan, scoring a 9.850 for a first-place finish.
• Junior Nicola Deans won bars for the first time in her career with a career-high 9.900.
• Burt notched a 9.850 on beam and won the event for the second time this season, and fifth time in her career.
• Sophomore Elena Lagoski tied her own career high and the second-highest score in school history, winning floor with a 9.950. Lagoski holds four floor event crowns this season and six in her career. She originally accomplished this mark on Jan. 18 at Iowa.
• With a quad meet victory at Rutgers with Brown and UW Oshkosh, Michigan State reached its 500th win over 41 years of program history. Head coach Kathie Klages has been at the head of the program for 324 of those wins.
• Klages is in her 25th season as head coach of the MSU gymnastics program. She is the longest-tenured head coach in the athletic department. The Spartans welcome assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Mike Rowe to the program after coaching nine years at the University of Pittsburgh. Both Rowe and assistant coach Nicole Curler are MSU alumni.
• The Spartans had seven gymnasts receive Academic All-Big Ten honors in the 2013-2014 school year. Klages has had 136 Academic All-Big Ten selections over her 25 years at the helm of MSU, as well as 115 student-athletes on the NACGC/W Scholar-Americans list.
• Three Spartans represented Michigan State at the 2014 NCAA Regional Championships. Cartwright led the Spartans and tied for fifth in all-around competition with a score of 39.325. Burt followed Cartwright and tied for seventh in all-around competition, notching a score of 39.200. In her first appearance at the regional meet, Lagoski earned a score of 9.875 to place ninth overall on the floor exercise.
• Up next, the Spartans will travel to Towson, Md. on Feb. 27 to face Towson, Rutgers, and Yale in their second quad meet of the season. Competition will start at 7 p.m. in the SECU Arena.
Players Mentioned
