Michigan State University Athletics
Saturday, January 10
West Valley City, Utah
8 PM ET/6 PM MT
Michigan State University
vs
California
Photo by: Mario Terrana
Spartans Open 2026 Season at Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad
1/8/2026 1:28:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah -Â Preseason No. 6 Michigan State gymnastics opens the 2026 season in the second session of the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 8 p.m. ET inside the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah.
MSU is the highest-ranked team in its session and will begin the meet on vault. No. 20 Cal will start on bars, while No. 9 Kentucky begins on beam and in-state rival and 14th-ranked Michigan starts on floor. The meet will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 with Olympians Sam Peszek, Aly Raisman (analysts), John Roethlisberger (play-by-play) and Taylor Davis (sideline) on the call.
The Spartans are making their second appearance at the Sprouts Farmers Collegiate Quad in the last three seasons. MSU last competed at the meet in its inaugural season in 2024, finishing second behind Cal and ahead of BYU and NC State. Overall, the 2026 edition of the meet features five of last year's NCAA Championships semifinal teams, with LSU, Oklahoma, UCLA and Utah competing in the first session and the Spartans in the second session. Kentucky and Cal each reached their respective NCAA regional finals in 2025, while Michigan competed in the second round of regionals.
FLIPPING INTO 2026
The Spartans wrapped the 2025 season in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships after advancing to the national meet for the first time since 1988 and just second time in program history. MSU finished fourth in its semifinal session behind Utah, UCLA and LSU, but put up the sixth-best score among all eight semifinal teams with a 196.363 to finish the year with a No. 6 final ranking, the highest final ranking in program history. The Spartans also finished the 2025 season ranked No. 4 as a team on vault, No. 7 on bars and 13th on both beam and floor.
Individually, five Spartans combined for seven NCAA All-America honors, with current seniors Sage Kellerman and Olivia Zsarmani each earning All-America status on both vault and bars, while now-sophomore Amy Doyle finished fourth on vault for First Team All-America honors. Graduated seniors Gabi Stephen (bars) and Skyla Schulte (floor) also earned First Team nods. Kellerman (First Team), Zsarmani (Second Team) and Nikki Smith (First Team) each also earned WCGA Regular Season All-America honors on vault and Kellerman added a Second Team nod on bars.
MSU finished second at the 2025 Big Ten Championships behind UCLA with a season-high 198.150, which was the highest road score in program history and tied the second-best MSU team score overall. It was MSU's fourth-straight top-two finish at the conference championships. Gabi Stephen (beam) and Zsarmani (vault) won B1G individual event titles. At the conclusion of the championships, Kellerman was named the first-ever Big Ten Event Specialist of the Year and Nikki Smith was honored as MSU's third-ever Big Ten Gymnast of the Year.
In addition to its 198.150 at the Big Ten Championships, MSU also posted a 198.000 in the NCAA University Park Regional final, the fifth-best team score in program history, marking the second time in the last two seasons and second time in program history that the Spartans went 198.000 or better in multiple meets in the same season. The Spartans also tied or broke the team vault record three times last season, posting a program-record 49.650 in the regional final.
Head coach Mike Rowe was named the WCGA Region One Coach of the Year, his second regional coach of the year award in the last four seasons (2022), while assistants Nicole Jones and Devin Wright were named WCGA Region One Assistant Coaches of the Year.
SCOUTING THE SPROUTS FIELD
MSU, Michigan and Kentucky will each make season debuts this weekend, while Cal is 2-1 this season after finishing second behind UCLA and ahead of Washington and Oregon State at the "Best of the West" quad meet at Washington with a 196.000 last weekend. Cal won the ACC regular season crown and advanced to the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Final last season and is in its first season under former Minnesota assistant coach Geralen Stack-Eaton.Â
The Spartans have faced the Golden Bears four times over the last four seasons, last meeting at Elevate the Stage in Huntsville, Alabama, in 2024. Cal narrowly won the meet ahead of second-place MSU, 197.200-197.150. The two teams also met at the 2023 Sprouts Collegiate Quad, with the Golden Bears finishing first and MSU second, while MSU fell to Cal in the second round and final of the 2023 NCAA Pittsburgh Regional.
Kentucky and MSU last met in the NCAA University Park Regional meet last year, with the Spartans defeating the Wildcats in both meets to advance to the NCAA Championships. Kentucky and MSU also met in each team's season opener in 2024 at the Super 16 in Las Vegas. MSU finished third in that meet behind Oklahoma and the second-place Wildcats. Head coach Tim Garrison is entering his 15th season at Kentucky.
The Spartans are 6-1 against Michigan over the last three seasons, having not dropped a meet against the Wolverines since finishing second behind UM at the 2023 Big Ten Championships. In regular season action, MSU has not fallen to UM since a 197.925-196.775 loss in Ann Arbor on Jan. 30, 2022. The Wolverines are in their first season under head coach Maile'ana Kanewa-Hermelyn following the retirement of 36-year head coach Bev Plocki.
RECORD WATCH
MSU will look to break its season-opening score record for the fifth time in six seasons on Saturday. The Spartans set the current highest season-opening score in 2025 with a 196.850 against Western Michigan after breaking the previous bests in 2023 (196.550), 2022 (195.875) and 2021 (195.775).
UP NEXT
MSU opens Big Ten action at Iowa on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 5 p.m. ET. The meet will stream on B1G+.
MSU is the highest-ranked team in its session and will begin the meet on vault. No. 20 Cal will start on bars, while No. 9 Kentucky begins on beam and in-state rival and 14th-ranked Michigan starts on floor. The meet will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 with Olympians Sam Peszek, Aly Raisman (analysts), John Roethlisberger (play-by-play) and Taylor Davis (sideline) on the call.
The Spartans are making their second appearance at the Sprouts Farmers Collegiate Quad in the last three seasons. MSU last competed at the meet in its inaugural season in 2024, finishing second behind Cal and ahead of BYU and NC State. Overall, the 2026 edition of the meet features five of last year's NCAA Championships semifinal teams, with LSU, Oklahoma, UCLA and Utah competing in the first session and the Spartans in the second session. Kentucky and Cal each reached their respective NCAA regional finals in 2025, while Michigan competed in the second round of regionals.
FLIPPING INTO 2026
The Spartans wrapped the 2025 season in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships after advancing to the national meet for the first time since 1988 and just second time in program history. MSU finished fourth in its semifinal session behind Utah, UCLA and LSU, but put up the sixth-best score among all eight semifinal teams with a 196.363 to finish the year with a No. 6 final ranking, the highest final ranking in program history. The Spartans also finished the 2025 season ranked No. 4 as a team on vault, No. 7 on bars and 13th on both beam and floor.
Individually, five Spartans combined for seven NCAA All-America honors, with current seniors Sage Kellerman and Olivia Zsarmani each earning All-America status on both vault and bars, while now-sophomore Amy Doyle finished fourth on vault for First Team All-America honors. Graduated seniors Gabi Stephen (bars) and Skyla Schulte (floor) also earned First Team nods. Kellerman (First Team), Zsarmani (Second Team) and Nikki Smith (First Team) each also earned WCGA Regular Season All-America honors on vault and Kellerman added a Second Team nod on bars.
MSU finished second at the 2025 Big Ten Championships behind UCLA with a season-high 198.150, which was the highest road score in program history and tied the second-best MSU team score overall. It was MSU's fourth-straight top-two finish at the conference championships. Gabi Stephen (beam) and Zsarmani (vault) won B1G individual event titles. At the conclusion of the championships, Kellerman was named the first-ever Big Ten Event Specialist of the Year and Nikki Smith was honored as MSU's third-ever Big Ten Gymnast of the Year.
In addition to its 198.150 at the Big Ten Championships, MSU also posted a 198.000 in the NCAA University Park Regional final, the fifth-best team score in program history, marking the second time in the last two seasons and second time in program history that the Spartans went 198.000 or better in multiple meets in the same season. The Spartans also tied or broke the team vault record three times last season, posting a program-record 49.650 in the regional final.
Head coach Mike Rowe was named the WCGA Region One Coach of the Year, his second regional coach of the year award in the last four seasons (2022), while assistants Nicole Jones and Devin Wright were named WCGA Region One Assistant Coaches of the Year.
SCOUTING THE SPROUTS FIELD
MSU, Michigan and Kentucky will each make season debuts this weekend, while Cal is 2-1 this season after finishing second behind UCLA and ahead of Washington and Oregon State at the "Best of the West" quad meet at Washington with a 196.000 last weekend. Cal won the ACC regular season crown and advanced to the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Final last season and is in its first season under former Minnesota assistant coach Geralen Stack-Eaton.Â
The Spartans have faced the Golden Bears four times over the last four seasons, last meeting at Elevate the Stage in Huntsville, Alabama, in 2024. Cal narrowly won the meet ahead of second-place MSU, 197.200-197.150. The two teams also met at the 2023 Sprouts Collegiate Quad, with the Golden Bears finishing first and MSU second, while MSU fell to Cal in the second round and final of the 2023 NCAA Pittsburgh Regional.
Kentucky and MSU last met in the NCAA University Park Regional meet last year, with the Spartans defeating the Wildcats in both meets to advance to the NCAA Championships. Kentucky and MSU also met in each team's season opener in 2024 at the Super 16 in Las Vegas. MSU finished third in that meet behind Oklahoma and the second-place Wildcats. Head coach Tim Garrison is entering his 15th season at Kentucky.
The Spartans are 6-1 against Michigan over the last three seasons, having not dropped a meet against the Wolverines since finishing second behind UM at the 2023 Big Ten Championships. In regular season action, MSU has not fallen to UM since a 197.925-196.775 loss in Ann Arbor on Jan. 30, 2022. The Wolverines are in their first season under head coach Maile'ana Kanewa-Hermelyn following the retirement of 36-year head coach Bev Plocki.
RECORD WATCH
MSU will look to break its season-opening score record for the fifth time in six seasons on Saturday. The Spartans set the current highest season-opening score in 2025 with a 196.850 against Western Michigan after breaking the previous bests in 2023 (196.550), 2022 (195.875) and 2021 (195.775).
UP NEXT
MSU opens Big Ten action at Iowa on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 5 p.m. ET. The meet will stream on B1G+.
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