Gymnastics Set For Big Ten Championships at Penn State

A FULL ROTATION . . .
What you need to know about the Spartans
The Spartans travel to University Park, Pennsylvania for the afternoon session of the Big Ten Championships on Saturday, March 23 at 12 p.m. ET. The meet will be televised live on the Big Ten Network, with watch live and live results links available on msuspartans.com.

Seeding was determined at last month's Big Five meet. MSU competes in the afternoon session on Saturday along with Maryland, No. 23 Ohio State and Rutgers. Illinois, Iowa, No. 7 Michigan, No. 11 Minnesota, No. 17 Nebraska and No. 25 Penn State face off in the evening session.

A total of 36 teams across the country qualify for NCAA Regionals based upon their national qualifying score, while 12 all-around competitors and 64 individual event specialists are included in the championship field from non-qualifying teams.

SPARTAN NOTES . . .
- Sophomore Lea Mitchell tallied a career best all-around score of 39.350 to take the win at Eastern Michigan on March 1 and earned her fourth all-around win with a 39.275 vs. UIC, Ball State and Alaska on March 20.

- Junior Gabriella Douglas has earned six event wins this season after taking the floor (9.875) and beam (9.825) titles at EMU on Mar. 1.

- Senior Roya Shirley posted a new career-high of 9.875 on vault to tie for first and grab a share of her first event win this season at the Big Five meet on Feb. 22.

- Douglas set a new personal best on floor for third time this season with a 9.925 and tallied 9.775 on vault to earn first place in both events vs. Rutgers on Feb. 16.

- Freshman Sydney Ewing recorded her first career wins with then-personal bests on bars (9.850) and vault (9.775) vs. Rutgers on Feb. 16.

- Senior Molly Hoerner-O'Malley set a career-high 9.850 on beam to win her first event of the season vs. Rutgers on Feb. 16.

- Mitchell set a new personal best (9.925) for the second time this season to tie for first on floor at Illinois on Feb. 8.

- Douglas tied for first, setting a new then-career-high on floor (9.900) and set a new season-high of 9.875 on the beam vs. No. 21 Minnesota on Feb. 2.

- Sophomore Tristan Brown set a new career-high on floor (9.825) and Ashley Beatty set a new top mark on vault (9.825) at No. 21 Minnesota on Feb. 2.

- Mitchell won the all-around vs. No. 14 Ohio State on Jan. 27, posting a then-season-high 39.100. She started the season placing second (38.675), third (39.025) and third (38.500) in the all-around.

- Mitchell posted a then-personal best on floor (9.900) against OSU on Jan. 27. 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.

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

- Senior Jessica Ling, who has recovered from three reconstructive surgeries 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.

ALL-B1G . . .
Michigan State gymnasts Gabriella Douglas and Lea Mitchell were named to the Big Ten Conference Second Team the league office announced on Monday, March 18.

"We're thrilled for both Lea and Ella for earning Big Ten All-Conference recognition," MSU head coach Mike Rowe said. "Their contributions, efforts and success both in and out of the gym demonstrate a consistency which has raised the bar and inspired others. They are great communicators and leaders, and have ultimately gained the respect of their teammates by playing an important part of our team dynamics this year!"

Douglas, a junior from Toronto, Ontario has tallied six event wins this season for the Spartans. She has set a new career-high on floor four times with a season-best of 9.925 vs. Rutgers on Feb. 16, and has earned a 9.9 or better on floor four times. Douglas posted a new personal best of 9.850 on vault at Illinois on Feb. 8.

Douglas was named the Big Ten Conference Event Specialist of the Week on Feb. 5 after garnering a 9.900 to tie for first on floor, becoming the first Spartan gymnast to earn a weekly Big Ten Honor since Shanthi Teike was named Co-Freshman of the Week on Feb. 22, 2010.

Mitchell, a native of Boynton Beach, Florida, won her fourth all-around competition of the season on Sunday, tallying 39.275. She set a new career-high in the all-around with a score of 39.350 at Eastern Michigan on March 1. Mitchell has tallied new personal bests on vault (9.825), bars (9.900) and floor (9.925) this season.

Mitchell has grabbed at least a share of seven event titles this season to go along with her four wins in the all-around competition.

It is the first All-Big Ten honor for both Douglas and Mitchell, as MSU has earned 57 All Big Ten accolades in program history. The Spartans have had at least one gymnast earn All-Big Ten recognition every season since 2002. Hailee Westney earned second team honors in 2018.

SEASON HIGHS . . .
- The Spartans posted a season-high 195.850 as a team against Eastern Michigan on March 1, topping the 195 mark for the third time this season.

- The Spartans have improved their team vault score as the season has progressed. 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 and again against No. 21 Minnesota on Feb. 2, before earning a 49.000 at Illinois on Feb. 8. MSU posted a new top score on the apparatus at the Big Five meet on Feb. 22, earning a 49.100.

- Michigan State set a new season-high of 49.200 on floor at Illinois on Feb. 2 and tied it vs. Rutgers (2/16) and at Elevate The Stage (3/8), the eighth time the Spartans have tallied 49.000 or better this season. At Illinois on Feb. 2 was the first 49.200 on floor for MSU since the Big Ten Quad meet on March 15, 2014.

B1G CHAMPIONSHIPS . . .
The Spartans recorded a 10th-place finish at last season's conference championships in Champaign, Illinois. Lea Mitchell was the lone all-around contender for the Green and White, tallying a 39.000 to grab 14th-place among a strong group of gymnasts.

MSU earned a 39.100 on bars as a team, its second-best mark of the season a year ago. Senior Hailee Westney recorded a 9.900 on the apparatus, also her second-highest score of the season. Westney finished sixth on the balance beam with a score of 9.850.

Mitchell and Westney went on to represent the Green and White competing as individuals at the NCAA Regionals in Columbus, Ohio. Mitchell qualified in the all-around, while Westney competed on bars.

RANKED OPPONENTS . . .
MSU has competed against 12 ranked teams after facing No. 8 Georgia, No. 10 Minnesota and No. 20 Arkansas last week.

MSU opened with No. 25 NC State, followed by No. 2 UCLA, No. 9 Cal and No. 14 UC Davis, No. 9 Michigan, No. 14 OSU, then-No. 21 Minnesota, along with No. 15 Nebraska and No. 24 PSU at Big Fives.

ROAD TO NATIONALS . . .
MSU is currently ranked No. 40 in the Week 11 Road to Nationals standings, staying put from last week's rankings. The Green and White have an RQS of 195.110 and an average score of 194.618.

The Spartans rank No. 25 on the floor exercise, No. 30 on vault, No. 41 on bars and No. 53 on balance beam.

QUOTABLE WITH COACH ROWE . . .
"It's hard to believe that our 2019 season is near its end. We will be starting on vault and get to compete on the podium once again with Maryland, Rutgers and Ohio State in the afternoon session at Rec Hall.

The Spartans are fired up and looking at this year's Big Ten Championships as we're definitely not done and we will be bringing our best effort yet."

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ashley Beatty

Tristan Brown

Gabriella Douglas

Sydney Ewing

Molly Hoerner-O'Malley

Jessica Ling

Lea Mitchell

Roya Shirley

Hailee Westney