Team Awards, Seniors Celebrated at Year-End Gymnastics Banquet
4/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
East Lansing, Mich. -- The Michigan State gymnastics program celebrated its 2016 season on Sunday, wrapping up a successful campaign that found the Spartans once again among the nation's top-30 programs. In addition to celebrating the season completed, the team also looked forward to the 2017 campaign.
"The 2016 season was one that had many ups and downs. We had a few key gymnasts that were injured and not able to compete the entire season, " noted head coach Kathie Klages, who has been at the helm of the MSU program for 26 seasons, making her the longest-tenured active coach at Michigan State. "However, the team still was filled with loads of talent and many goals to accomplish. We experienced the night session at the Big Ten Championships with individuals making the podium and being named to the All Championship Team. We qualified to regionals as the 36th seed and moved up in the rankings to 28th with a great performance. To top it all off, Lisa Burt qualified to the national championships and represented the Green and White with pride. I am very proud of what this team was able to accomplish. It was a very good year! We will miss the seniors and their leadership and wish them well in their future endeavors. We look forward to what the future with bring for all."
The team celebrated its seven seniors with recognition of their countless contributions to the program. Five competed for the Spartans in 2015 (Lisa Burt, Nicola Deans, Brittany Holmes, Ashley Noll, and Haley Sedgewick) as well as four-year manager Kelsey Thomas, and student assistant coach Kate Filosi, who competed from 2013-15 but was forced to retire due to injuries.
The program also named its leadership council for the coming year, consisting of rising seniors Kira Frederick, Elena Lagoski, and Holly Ryan, along with current sophomore Anna Gamelo, freshman Jessica Ling, and incoming freshman Ella Douglas. It was also revealed that fifth-year senior Ashley Noll will be staying with the team, in a role of volunteer assistant coach.
Among the awards handed out at the banquet included:
- 1,000 Point Club: Lisa Burt, Brittany Holmes, and Ashley Noll. The trio of seniors was honored for surpassing 1,000 points in their careers.
- Coaches Award: Senior student manager Kelsey Thomas.
- Kathryn Mahoney Award: Junior Kira Frederick. Frederick missed three meets as she battled through injuries, but still was able to contribute to MSU' s success, particularly on floor exercise, where she owned an RQS that ranked 10th in the Big Ten. The Academic All-Big Ten selection placed fourth on floor at the Big Ten Championships.
- Spirit Award: Junior Elena Lagoski. The Spartans' anchor on floor was a Second Team All-Big Ten selection and with her second-place finish, was named to the All-Championship team at the B1G Championships. With a floor RQS that ranked fourth regionally and 24th nationally, Lagoski owns five of the top 15 floor scores in Spartan history.
- Most Improved Gymnast: Sophomore Hailee Westney. Westney is a bars specialist who also contributed on beam this season. Her career-best 9.900 on bars at the Big Ten Championships earned her not only a third-place finish, but also a spot on the B1G All-Championship team.
- Most Valuable Gymnast: Senior Lisa Burt. The two-time recipient of this award, Burt capped her collegiate career by earning an individual spot in the NCAA Gymnastics Championship as an All-Around competitor. The two-time All-Big Ten and Academic All-Big Ten selection finished fourth All-Around at the NCAA Regional and seventh at the Big Ten Championships. Overall on the season, Burt earned 26 top-three finishes.
Team 2016 Highlights:
- Michigan State finished sixth at the NCAA Regional Championships at the University of Georgia. The Spartans' 195.350 final team score, good for sixth place, was accumulated from a 48.575 on vault, a 48.950 on bars, a 48.675 on beam and a 49.150 on floor. MSU's 195.350 was its second-highest score ever at an NCAA Regional, just shy of last season's 195.375. The Spartans were making their second NCAA Regional appearance in a row and 23rd in program history, including their 17th appearance in 26 seasons under Klages.
- Season-best results on both floor and vault helped MSU to a seventh place overall finish at the 2016 Big Ten Championship in Lincoln, Neb. on March 19. The Spartans marked their highest finish at Big Tens since 2013, while their team score of 195.475 was their best at the Big Ten Championships since scoring a 195.65 in 2009. MSU scored a season-best 49.000 on vault and a 49.400 on floor exercise. The 49.400 on floor tied for the eighth-best performance all-time, while MSU's team vault score (49.000) was tied for 24th in the MSU record book.
- MSU posted strong results at the Big Five meet to help place the Spartans in the evening session of the Big Ten Championships. The 196.300 team score at the Big Five meet tied for sixth-best in program history. The team's beam score tied for the ninth-best in the MSU record book (49.175). The 49.325 on floor matches MSU's 2016 season high and ranks 12th in program history.
- Senior Lisa Burt and junior Elena Lagoski were among the athletes earning All-Big Ten honors, as announced by the Conference office on March 14. Both earned Second Team honors after earning First Team kudos in 2015, making them the seventh and eighth gymnasts in school history to earn All-Big Ten honors multiple times in their careers. Senior Brittany Holmes was MSU's recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
- At the Big Ten Championships, Lagoski (floor) and sophomore Hailee Westney (bars) each earned a spot on the All-Big Ten Championship Team with top-three finishes.
- Lisa Burt wrapped up her collegiate career by competing All-Around at the 2016 National Collegiate Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth, Texas. She was making MSU's first NCAA Championship appearance since 2010.
2016 Spartan Honor Roll
Lisa Burt
Second Team All-Big Ten
Academic All-Big Ten
Most Valuable Gymnast
Big Ten Gymnast to Watch
1,000 Point Club
Nicola Deans
Academic All-Big Ten
Kira Frederick
Kathryn Mahoney Award
Academic All-Big Ten
Anna Gamelo
Academic All-Big Ten
Brittany Holmes
Big Ten Sportsmanship Award
1,000 Point Club
Academic All-Big Ten
Elena Lagoski
Big Ten Gymnast to Watch Big Ten All-Championship Team Second Team All-Big Ten Team Spirit Award
Ashley Noll
1,000 Point Club Academic All-Big Ten
Holly Ryan
Academic All-Big Ten
Hailee Westney
Big Ten All-Championship Team Most Improved Gymnast
Players Mentioned
