Spartans Travel To Penn State

Feb. 5, 2015

Michigan State at Penn State
Dates	Saturday, February 7, 2015 State College, PA \| Recreation Center
Video Stream	www.gopsusports.com/livestats/w-gym/20150207.htm
Live Scoring	www.gopsusports.com/livestats/w-gym/20150207.htm
Download Game Notes	Michigan State \| Penn State
Social Media	@MSUgymnastics \| Facebook

SERIES NOTES

• Michigan State will travel to State College on Saturday, Feb. 7 to compete against Penn State in what will be the fourth Big Ten competition of the season.

• In the first four meets of 2015, the Spartans have recorded 27 career highs, helping them to a 5-2 overall record and a 2-1 mark against conference competition. Michigan State ranks fourth in the Big Ten standings while Penn State ranks sixth with a 4-2, 1-2 record.

• The Nittany Lions hold a 37-8 all-time series record over the Spartans. The last time the two schools met in the regular season was in East Lansing on Jan. 25, 2014 when MSU fell to PSU by a score of 192.750-194.825.

TEAM NOTES

• After placing first in a quad meet with Rutgers, Brown, and UW Oshkosh, the Spartans rank in the national top 25 poll for the third straight week. MSU is currently ranked 24th in team totals, while ranking 15th on floor and 17th on beam.

• Lisa Burt has taken three all-around crowns and recorded just one second-place finish in the first four meets of the season. The junior currently ranks 13th in both the national and Big Ten all-around poll while ranking seventh in the region.

• Last time out, Michigan State traveled to Piscataway, New Jersey to continue Big Ten competition against Rutgers University, along with non-conference opponents Brown University and Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The Spartans won the quad, scoring a 194.950 as a team.

• With Saturday's first-place finish, the Spartans were able to capture their 500th win as a program in 41 years of competition. MSU now sits at 502-253-4 overall, 321-200-4 under current head coach Kathie Klages.

• This was the first quad MSU has won since Janurary 8th, 2010 when the Spartans scored a 193.925 to defeat Penn State, West Virginia, and Western Michigan in East Lansing.

• Sophomore Mackenzie Smith led the way on bars for the Spartans at Rutgers, scoring a career-high 9.875 and winning the event for the first time as a Spartan. As a team, the Spartans took first on the event with a score of 48.650, increasing their season average.

• The Spartans won floor with a score of 49.050 at Rutgers. Freshman Anna Gamelo took first on the event for the first time as a Spartan with a career-high 9.900. Sophomore Kira Frederick and junior Nicola Deans tied for second with a 9.850, a season high for Deans and a career high for Frederick.

• After recovering from injury during the first three meets of the season, freshman Hailee Westney made her debut as a Spartan and competed on beam at Rutgers. All three Spartan freshmen have competed for MSU this season.

• 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.

• Three Spartans represented Michigan State at the 2014 NCAA Regional Championships. Alina Cartwright led the Spartans and tied for fifth in all-around competition with a score of 39.325. Lisa 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, Elena Lagoski earned a score of 9.875 to place ninth overall on the floor exercise.

• 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.

• Cartwright and Burt have been selected as Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch for the 2015 season, as announced by the conference office in December.

• Mark your calendars! The Spartans will return home on Friday, Feb. 13 to compete against in-state rival University of Michigan. This meet will serve as the annual alumni meet. All alumni are asked to contact Nicole Curler (curlerni@ath.msu.edu) if interested in participating.

• Just two days later (Feb. 15) the Spartans will host Pittsburgh for the annual Autism Awareness Meet.