MSU Travels to Nebraska for Big Five Meet

March 12, 2015

Michigan State at Nebraska for Big Five Meet
Dates	Saturday, March 14, 2015 Lincoln, Nebraksa \| Devaney Center
Video Stream	www.huskers.com
Live Scoring	www.huskers.com
Download Game Notes	Michigan State \| Nebraksa \| Maryland \| Ohio State \| Illinois
Social Media	@MSUgymnastics \| Facebook

SERIES NOTES

• Michigan State will travel to Lincoln, Neb. on Saturday, March 14 to face Nebraska, Illinois, Maryland and Ohio State. The meet, known as the Big Five Meet, will take place at 1 p.m. ET in the Devaney Center.

• Live stats and a video link will be available through Huskers.com and the competition will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.

• MSU will look to finish in the top three, which would secure a spot in the night session of the 2015 Big Ten Championships - which will take place in Ann Arbor on March 21.

• The Spartans will start on beam this weekend, something they have yet to do this season. The second rotation will serve as a bye for the Spartans, who will then move to floor in the third rotation of the day. The team will compete on vault in the fourth rotation before moving to bars in the final rotation of the day.

Nebraska Rotation: Bars, beam, bye, floor, vault

Illinois Rotation: Vault, bars, beam, bye, floor

Ohio State Rotation: Floor, vault, bars, beam, bye

Maryland Rotation: Bye, floor, vault, bars, beam

• Heading into its final regular-season competition, MSU is currently tied for 25th in the nation, alongside Big Ten foe Iowa. This is the sixth time this season the Spartans have slid into the top 25 nationally. The team sits at sixth in the region and is tied for sixth in the Big Ten with a 2-3 conference record. The Spartans will look to better their 195.550 RQS and top their season-high 196.325.

• Nebraska has achieved a 12-2 overall record and a 4-1 record in Big Ten competition this season. The Huskers hold a 11-2 all-time series record over the Spartans.

• Illinois holds a 9-1 overall record, 5-1 in the Big Ten and stands at 13th in the nation and fourth in the conference. Earlier this season (Feb. 20), MSU traveled to Illinois, where they posted a season best 196.325, but fell to the Illini by a .175 margin.

• Ohio State has tallied a 7-5 overall record so far this season, alongside a 2-3 conference record. After a second place finish in a quad meet at Colorado last weekend, the Buckeyes hold ninth in the Big Ten with a season average 195.153 and a 195.260 team RQS.

• Big Ten newcomer Maryland holds a 14-5 record on the season, 2-3 in the Big Ten. The Terrapins are coming off of a quad meet victory, scoring a season-best 196.000. The team holds a 195.290 RQS, and ranks eighth in the conference behind MSU and Iowa.

TEAM NOTES

• The Spartans are coming off of a disappointing quad meet, finishing fourth behind Arizona, Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan on Friday, March 6. The Spartans posted a 194.350. Despite the loss, the Spartans captured event titles on four of the five individual events.

• Senior Alina Cartwright took the crown on vault, tying her personal best 9.950.

• Junior Lisa Burt won bars with a 9.900 and was followed my sophomore Mackenzie Smith who tied her personal best 9.875 and placed second.

• Freshman Hailee Westney hit a personal best 9.850 and won beam for the first time in her career.

• Sophomre Elena Lagoski won floor for the eighth time this season, scoring a 9.900.

• Burt currently ranks 19th in the nation all-around, in addition to 22nd on beam and tied for 21st on bars. Burt holds five all-around crowns on the year along with nine other event titles this season.

• Lagoski continues success on floor, owning a 9.920 RQS, which is tied for 10th in the nation. Lagoski has tied her career high 9.950, (the second highest floor score in school history), three times this season.

• Kathie 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 welcomed assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Mike Rowe to the program this season after coaching nine years at the University of Pittsburgh. Both Rowe and assistant coach Nicole Curler are MSU alumni.

• Up next, the Spartans will travel to Ann Arbor for the 2015 Big Ten Championships that will be held on Saturday, March 21.