March 3, 2007

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The 25th-ranked Michigan State gymnastics team (10-6) suffered a 196.475-196.150 loss to Big Ten rival No. 15 Michigan (10-3) on Saturday night at Jenison Field House. The defeat is MSU's third loss to a league opponent this season, and 16th consecutive dual-meet loss to the Wolverines, dating back to the 1991 season.

Michigan's Tatjana Thuener-Rego won the all-around competition with a 39.500, followed by MSU's Kristen Coleman in second with 39.300. Huneth Lor from Michigan finished third with a 38.975, followed by Spartan freshman Nicole Curler in fourth with a 38.775. Freshman Megan Bergland won her first-career individual event title with a season-best score of 9.900 on the uneven bars, while Curler won the floor exercise with a season-best 9.925.

"I was very pleased with our team's performance tonight," Michigan State head coach Kathie Klages said. "Though we suffered a loss to Michigan, I'm very happy with our overall score, which will really help our RQS (Regional Qualifying Score)."

The Spartans followed the Olympic order of events in the competition, competing on vault (48.825) during the first rotation. Rochelle Robinson was MSU's top finisher with a 9.875, while Coleman contributed a 9.800 to finish fourth. MSU's Victoria Iakounina and Rhiannon Banda-Scott each contributed a 9.725, and the freshman duo of Emily Lopatofsky and Curler added scores of 9.700 and 9.275, respectively.

State advanced to the uneven bars (49.175) during the night's second rotation, where Bergland tied with Thuener-Rego for the meet's top score with a 9.900. Coleman turned in a third-place performance of 9.875, matching her third-highest mark this season, and Katlyn Roggensack finished tied for fifth with a season-best mark of 9.850. Lopatofsky (9.800), Curler (9.750) and Fanning (9.725) also posted strong scores on the event for the Green and White.

The Spartans trailed the Wolverines, 147.425-146.925, heading into the meet's final rotation. Despite a strong score of 49.225 by MSU on floor, Michigan answered with a 49.050 on beam to capture the meet title. Curler posted the meet's top performance on floor, and Coleman turned in a second-place mark of 9.900 for the Spartans. Roggensack (9.825) and Megan McNally (9.800) finished fifth and seventh, respectively.

Michigan State will not compete until March 16 when it hits the road for two consecutive road meets. State will travel to No. 1 Florida (7 p.m.) and concludes the weekend action on March 18 at Western Michigan (1 p.m.).