Spartan Gymnastics Travels to Iowa Saturday

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State gymnastics travels to Iowa City for its first B1G road meet of the season on Saturday, Feb. 1 with the meet slated to begin at 8 p.m. ET.

Saturday's meet will be streamed live on BTN+ and live results will be posted on MSUSpartans.com.

LEAVING IT ALL ON THE FLOOR ....
The Spartan floor squad continued its dominance last meet as they captured a team score of 49.475, tying the highest floor score in program history. The last time the Spartans earned a 49.475 on floor was at the Big Ten Championships on March 18, 2017.

Three Spartans earned 9.900's or higher and all six floor competitors tied or earned personal-bests on floor exercise.

Sophomore Ashley Hofelich and senior Gabriella Douglas both tied their personal-bests on floor, as Douglas (9.925) placed second and Hofelich (9.900) tied for third.

In the anchor position, Mitchell posted a career-best 9.950 for top honors on floor. Mitchell's 9.950 was not only a career-high but was also the first by a Spartan since Nicola Deans posted a 9.950 against Bowling Green on March 5, 2017.

Junior Tristan Brown and freshman Nyah Smith earned matching career-best scores of 9.850 to place sixth, while freshman Chloe Bellmore tied her career-best with a 9.825.

LAST TIME OUT ...
Michigan State gymnastics posted a season-high 196.550, for the fifth-best team score in program history, behind team season-best scores on bars (49.075) and floor (49.475), on Sunday, Jan. 26 at Jenison Field House.

Junior Lea Mitchell placed second in the all-around with a cumulative score of 39.275, posting a career-high 9.950 on floor to take top honors on the final event of the day. Freshman Nyah Smith posted a career-high in the all-around competition with a 39.225, tying for third.

The Spartans started the meet on vault, tying their season-high on the event with a 48.875. Douglas and Mitchell tied for fourth on vault with matching 9.825 scores. Mitchell tied her career-best with the score while Douglas posted a season-high. Smith tied for sixth with a 9.800, while Bellmore scored a 9.725.

MSU took to the uneven bars for the second rotation, posting a season-high 49.075. Freshman Jori Jackard took top honors on bars, with a career-best 9.900. Jackard is the first Spartan to record a 9.900 on bars this season. Sophomore Alaina Raybon (9.825) and junior Madison McHale (9.800) both tied career-bests on bars.

In the third rotation, Douglas captured her fourth-consecutive 9.800 or higher on beam with a 9.875 for third place. Smith earned a personal-best as she tied for fourth with teammate Bellmore with matching 9.850 scores.

SPARTANS REIGN ON BEAM . . .
Michigan State ranks 12th in the nation and second in the Big Ten on beam, averaging a score of 49.025 over the first four meets.

Senior Gabriella Douglas currently is 16th in the country and fourth in the conference among all beam specialists, averaging a 9.894. Douglas has made the podium in every meet this season, highlighted by three event wins.

Douglas posted a then career-best 9.925 against Western Michigan on Jan. 5, before scoring a career-best 9.950 in the home-opener vs. Central Michigan and Illinois State on Jan. 11. She became the first Spartan to capture a 9.950 on beam since Kelsey Morley, who did it twice in 2009.

ROOKIES IN THE LINEUP . . .
Three freshmen have become fixtures in the Spartan rotation this season, including Chloe Bellmore (DeWitt, Mich.) on vault, beam and floor, Jori Jackard (Haslett, Mich.) on bars and Nyah Smith (West Bloomfield, Mich.) in the all-around competition.

Jackard won her first event title as a Spartan as she posted a 9.900 on bars vs. No. 16 Nebraska on Jan. 26. This was the first 9.900 or higher for the Spartans on bars this season.

O CAPTAINS! OUR CAPTAINS! . . .
Senior Gabriella Douglas and junior Lea Mitchell will serve as the co-captains for the 2020 season.

Douglas and Mitchell are serving as co-captains for the second-straight season. The duo were both named to the All-Big Ten Second Team and gathered Big Ten All-Championships Team accolades in 2019. Also, the co-captains both competed at the NCAA Regionals in Baton Rouge, Louisiana last season.

"Ella and Lea have once again been designated as the Spartan Gymnastics Team Captains for the 2019-20 season by their teammates and coaches," Rowe said. "When it comes to leadership in the classroom and out, and especially in the arena, they complement each other by setting the standards that exemplify the values, philosophies and long-range goals of our program."

HAWKEYE NOTES . . .
The Hawkeyes host the Spartans in their Big Ten home-opener on Saturday. Iowa comes into the meet with an 0-2 record in the conference, after falling to Maryland on Jan. 19 (196.125-195.675) and most recently against Penn State on Jan. 25 (196.275-193.675).

It will be a battle on the floor in Iowa City as Iowa ranks tied for 15th in the country and fourth in the Big Ten, while Michigan State is ranked 14th overall and third in the conference on floor exercise.

Sophomore Lauren Guerin ranks first in the Big Ten and ties for ninth in the nation on floor, averaging a 9.912. She scored a 9.950 against the Nittany Lions on Jan. 25 for the third all-time floor mark in Iowa gymnastics history.

Head coach Larissa Libby is in her 16th season at the helm of the Hawkeye program and 20th season overall.

LAST TIME OUT WITH THE HAWKEYES . . .
This will be the first dual meeting between the two programs since the 2016 season, when the Hawkeyes edged the Spartans, 194.900-192.575, in East Lansing.

MSU is making its first trip to Iowa City since 2015, in a tri-meet with Iowa and Ball State.

The Spartans won the tri with a 195.625. Iowa was second with a 194.425, while Ball State was third at 193.350.

QUOTABLE WITH COACH ROWE . . .
"Going on the road after a three-weekend home meet stretch is exciting for the team. Our mission is to stay on track and focused, continue to take steps forward, even if a half-tenth at a time, on each event each week."

UP NEXT . . .
Michigan State gymnastics heads out on the roadagain for the second of two Big Ten meets, traveling to Piscataway, New Jersey for a match up with Rutgers on Saturday, Feb. 8, with the meet slated to begin at 1:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

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Players Mentioned

Chloe Bellmore

Tristan Brown

Gabriella Douglas

Ashley Hofelich

Jori Jackard

Madison McHale

Lea Mitchell

Alaina Raybon

Nyah Smith