Saturday, March 22
Ann Arbor, Mich.
5 PM
Michigan State University
vs
Big Ten Championships
Photo by: Amir Prellberg
Second-Seeded Spartans Head to Ann Arbor for Big Ten Gymnastics Championships
3/20/2025 12:52:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -Â Second-seeded and ninth-ranked Michigan State gymnastics takes on No. 1-seed UCLA, No. 3 Minnesota and No. 4 Michigan in the final session of the 2025 Big Ten Gymnastics Championships on Saturday, March 22 at 5 p.m. inside the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.
All three sessions of the Big Ten Championships will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
ROTATION ORDER: Beam-Floor-Vault-Bars
NOTABLES
The Spartans, the defending champions, enter Saturday's championships as the No. 2 seed after finishing in a tie for second in the Big Ten regular season standings with an 8-1 (14-3 overall) league record. Top-seeded UCLA (9-0 B1G) is the only conference team the Spartans fell to during the regular season in a narrow 197.300-197.200 loss on Feb. 1 in Los Angeles. MSU defeated both Minnesota (8-1 B1G) and Michigan (6-3 B1G) at home this season. Junior Nikki Smith won the all-around competition in all three meets.
The meet will begin on Friday, March 21 with Nebraska, Ohio State, Rutgers and Washington in the first of three sessions at 6 p.m. Iowa, Illinois, Penn State and Maryland will compete in the second session on Saturday at noon.
MSU wrapped up the regular season on March 16 with a 197.375-192.550 win over Bowling Green at Jenison Field House. MSU ranks ninth, its 11th-straight week inside the top 10, in the Week 11 RoadtoNationals rankings with an NQS of 197.290, marking the first time in program history the Spartans have been ranked inside the top 10 every week during the regular season. In the national event rankings, MSU ranks fourth on vault (49.410), seventh on bars (49.405), 17th on beam (49.245) and 14th on floor (49.385).
The Spartans captured every individual event and the all-around titles against Bowling Green, led by Smith, who captured her sixth all-around title of the season with a 39.500 and also won a share of the vault title (9.900) with senior Gabrielle Stephen and a share of the bars title with junior Sage Kellerman (9.925). Two Spartans captured the first event titles of their careers - freshman Cady Duplissis on beam, who tied a career-high 9.875, and junior Elle Beaufait on floor, who captured Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week honors earliest this week with a career-high 9.950 in her first time anchoring the floor lineup.
Five Spartans have combined for seven NCAA top-25 individual rankings after Week 11 of the season. MSU has three gymnasts in the top 25 on vault - Smith (T-No. 4), Kellerman (T-No. 8), and junior Olivia Zsarmani (T-No. 23), while Kellerman is also ranked in the top 15 on bars (T-No. 12). Senior Skyla Schulte's 9.915 NQS on floor puts her in a tie for 23rd on the event. The Spartans also have a pair of all-arounders in the national top 25Â - Stephen and Smith, who both rank 23rd in the NCAA (39.435 NQS) and in a tie for fourth in the conference.Â
MSU AT THE B1G CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Spartans will look to go back-to-back this weekend after winning the program's first-ever Big Ten Championships title last season. Last year's meet came down to the final routine, with current senior Gabrielle Stephen clinching the victory in the anchor spot on beam with a 9.875 to edge second-place Minnesota by a tenth, 197.600-197.500. Since 2022, MSU has finished inside the top two at every Big Ten Championships after not finishing higher than fourth since 2010. The Spartans' second-place finish in 2022 was their best finish since 2006.
MSU will also look to claim an individual Big Ten title for the third-straight season, having won at least two in both the 2023 and 2024 meets. In 2023, Kellerman won a share of the vault title as a freshman, becoming MSU's first vault champion since 2006 and first freshman champion since 1996. Current fifth-year senior Delanie Harkness won a share of the bars title, the first for MSU since 1995. Last season, Skyla Schulte became MSU's first-ever Big Ten all-around champion and won a share of the floor title, while then-senior Baleigh Garcia earned a share of the beam title. MSU last Big Ten individual titles prior to 2022 came in a three-way tie on floor in 2017. Only one gymnast in MSU history has won individual titles in two different seasons - Kim Hartwick in 1986 (beam) and 1987 (beam, floor).
UP NEXT
The 2025 NCAA Gymnastics Regional Selection Show will air on ESPNU at noon on Monday, March 24. Penn State, Alabama, Utah and Washington will host NCAA Regionals from April 2-6.
All three sessions of the Big Ten Championships will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
ROTATION ORDER: Beam-Floor-Vault-Bars
NOTABLES
The Spartans, the defending champions, enter Saturday's championships as the No. 2 seed after finishing in a tie for second in the Big Ten regular season standings with an 8-1 (14-3 overall) league record. Top-seeded UCLA (9-0 B1G) is the only conference team the Spartans fell to during the regular season in a narrow 197.300-197.200 loss on Feb. 1 in Los Angeles. MSU defeated both Minnesota (8-1 B1G) and Michigan (6-3 B1G) at home this season. Junior Nikki Smith won the all-around competition in all three meets.
The meet will begin on Friday, March 21 with Nebraska, Ohio State, Rutgers and Washington in the first of three sessions at 6 p.m. Iowa, Illinois, Penn State and Maryland will compete in the second session on Saturday at noon.
MSU wrapped up the regular season on March 16 with a 197.375-192.550 win over Bowling Green at Jenison Field House. MSU ranks ninth, its 11th-straight week inside the top 10, in the Week 11 RoadtoNationals rankings with an NQS of 197.290, marking the first time in program history the Spartans have been ranked inside the top 10 every week during the regular season. In the national event rankings, MSU ranks fourth on vault (49.410), seventh on bars (49.405), 17th on beam (49.245) and 14th on floor (49.385).
The Spartans captured every individual event and the all-around titles against Bowling Green, led by Smith, who captured her sixth all-around title of the season with a 39.500 and also won a share of the vault title (9.900) with senior Gabrielle Stephen and a share of the bars title with junior Sage Kellerman (9.925). Two Spartans captured the first event titles of their careers - freshman Cady Duplissis on beam, who tied a career-high 9.875, and junior Elle Beaufait on floor, who captured Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week honors earliest this week with a career-high 9.950 in her first time anchoring the floor lineup.
Five Spartans have combined for seven NCAA top-25 individual rankings after Week 11 of the season. MSU has three gymnasts in the top 25 on vault - Smith (T-No. 4), Kellerman (T-No. 8), and junior Olivia Zsarmani (T-No. 23), while Kellerman is also ranked in the top 15 on bars (T-No. 12). Senior Skyla Schulte's 9.915 NQS on floor puts her in a tie for 23rd on the event. The Spartans also have a pair of all-arounders in the national top 25Â - Stephen and Smith, who both rank 23rd in the NCAA (39.435 NQS) and in a tie for fourth in the conference.Â
MSU AT THE B1G CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Spartans will look to go back-to-back this weekend after winning the program's first-ever Big Ten Championships title last season. Last year's meet came down to the final routine, with current senior Gabrielle Stephen clinching the victory in the anchor spot on beam with a 9.875 to edge second-place Minnesota by a tenth, 197.600-197.500. Since 2022, MSU has finished inside the top two at every Big Ten Championships after not finishing higher than fourth since 2010. The Spartans' second-place finish in 2022 was their best finish since 2006.
MSU will also look to claim an individual Big Ten title for the third-straight season, having won at least two in both the 2023 and 2024 meets. In 2023, Kellerman won a share of the vault title as a freshman, becoming MSU's first vault champion since 2006 and first freshman champion since 1996. Current fifth-year senior Delanie Harkness won a share of the bars title, the first for MSU since 1995. Last season, Skyla Schulte became MSU's first-ever Big Ten all-around champion and won a share of the floor title, while then-senior Baleigh Garcia earned a share of the beam title. MSU last Big Ten individual titles prior to 2022 came in a three-way tie on floor in 2017. Only one gymnast in MSU history has won individual titles in two different seasons - Kim Hartwick in 1986 (beam) and 1987 (beam, floor).
UP NEXT
The 2025 NCAA Gymnastics Regional Selection Show will air on ESPNU at noon on Monday, March 24. Penn State, Alabama, Utah and Washington will host NCAA Regionals from April 2-6.
Players Mentioned
UB, BB, FX
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UB, BB, FX
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