Spartan Gymnastics Travels to No. 21 Minnesota Saturday

A FULL ROTATION . . .
What you need to know about the Spartans
Michigan State gymnastics returns to the road for a Big Ten matchup with No. 21 Minnesota Saturday, Feb. 2 at 4 p.m. ET at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis.

Saturday's meet will be streamed live on BTN Plus. Links to the stream and live stats can be found at msuspartans.com.

RANKED OPPONENTS . . .
The Golden Gophers are the seventh-straight nationally ranked team the Spartans have faced in the first five weeks of the season.

MSU opened the season facing No. 25 NC State, followed by three top-15 teams at the Collegiate Challenge (No. 2 UCLA, No. 9 Cal and No. 14 UC Davis), traveled to No. 9 Michigan for the conference opener and finished the month hosting No. 14 Ohio State.

SPARTAN NOTES . . .
- Lea Mitchell won the all-around vs. No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27, posting a season-high 39.100. She started the season placing second (38.675), third (39.025) and third (38.500) in the all-around at the first three meets, respectively.

- Mitchell posted a new personal best in the floor exercise against OSU on Jan. 27, tallying a 9.900. She also tied her personal best on vault with a 9.825, on the way to tying for the meet's top honors on floor and vault.

- Gabriella Douglas tied her career-high on floor (9.875) vs. No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27, a week after tying for first place and setting the mark at No. 9 Michigan on Jan. 18. Douglas was the top Spartan on beam vs. the Buckeyes, tying her season-high of 9.850.

- Senior Molly Hoerner O'Malley posted a personal best of 9.800 to lead the Spartans on bars against No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27.

- Freshman Ashley Hofelich tied her personal best on floor against No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27, posting a 9.825.

- Senior Roya Shirley received a season-high 9.750 on vault against No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27.

- Senior Jessica Ling, who has recovered from three reconstructive surguries to her ACL throughout her career, tied her personal-best and posted the Spartans top bars score of the season with a 9.875 to take second place at No. 9 Michigan on Jan. 18.

- Sophomore Tristan Brown posted a new career-high on bars at No. 9 Michigan on Jan. 18, tallying a 9.850 to finish in fourth place.

- Freshmen Ashley Hofelich and Alaina Raybon both won events in their collegiate debuts on Jan. 5 vs. NC State. Hofelich won the vault with a score of 9.800, while Raybon took top honors on the floor with a 9.850.

SEASON HIGHS . . .
The Spartans posted a season-high 195.225 as a team against No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27, topping the 195 mark for the first time this season.

The Spartans have improved their team vault score each week this season. Since posting a 48.550 against the Wolfpack on Jan. 5, MSU tallied a 48.750 at the Collegiate Challenge on Jan. 12, a 48.775 at No. 9 Michigan on Jan. 18, followed by a 48.800 vs. No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27.

Michigan State set a new season-high of 49.125 on floor against No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27. The previous high was a 49.025 at the Collegiate Challenge in Anaheim, Calif. on Jan. 12.

ROAD TO NATIONALS . . .
MSU is currently ranked No. 42 in the week four Road to Nationals standings, not moving from last week's rankings.

The Spartans are No. 25 on the floor exercise, No. 29 on vault, No. 46 on balance beam and No. 51 on bars.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GOPHERS . . .
Minnesota is ranked No. 21 and 6-2 on the season, sitting at 2-0 in the B1G after last week's 196.925-196.775 win over Penn State. The Gophers also defeated Iowa, 195.475-194.350, in Iowa City on Jan. 19.

Sophomore Lexy Ramler is the reigning Big Ten Gymnast of the Week after winning the all-around with a career-high score of 39.625 at Penn State. It was the fifth-best individual all-around performance in Minnesota gymnastics history.

The Gophers are coached by Jenny Hansen, who is currently in her fifth season. Hansen, a Minnesota gymnastics alumnae, led the program to their 23rd straight NCAA Regionals appearance in 2017, finishing in fourth place, and a No. 22 national ranking. The Gophers ended the year ranked No. 10 on bars.

QUOTABLE WITH COACH ROWE . . .
"We're looking forward to our trip out to Minneapolis on Friday, and the Gophers have always been good competition for us as they are a strong force in the Big Ten. We have been doing a great job of competing at a higher level against strong teams, and plan on doing the same this weekend. Our lineups are beginning to solidify to an extent, but the Spartans are still challenging each other daily to break into one of those spots."

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tristan Brown

Gabriella Douglas

Ashley Hofelich

Jessica Ling

Lea Mitchell

Alaina Raybon

Roya Shirley