March 22, 2007

Spartan Meet Notes
Livestats

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Spartan gymnastics team concludes the 2007 regular season with a home dual-meet against No. 23 NC State on Friday. NC State holds a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series with the Spartans. MSU has a 5-4 home record heading into weekend action against the Wolfpack. Senior night festivities will take place after the meet on Friday.

Weekend Review
MSU suffered a 197.675-195.375 loss to No. 2 Florida in a road dual-meet last Friday evening in Gainesville. Senior Kristen Coleman led the Spartans with a second-place finish in the all-around (39.350), while freshman Rochelle Robinson captured MSU's lone individual event title, posting a 9.900 to win the vault competition. Robinson's first-place effort on vault marked her fifth overall title on the event this season.

State concluded weekend action with a 196.300-194.250 victory over intra-state rival Western Michigan on Sunday. Coleman broke the all-around school record for the second time this season, posting a 39.625 to finish first overall. She also won the uneven bar (9.925) and floor exercise (9.950) titles against the Broncos.

Scouting The Wolfpack
NC State enters Friday's meet with the Spartans ranked 23rd in the GymInfo Top 25 Poll. The Wolfpack completed their home season with a victory over Pittsburgh on March 16, posting their second-highest team score of the season with a 195.900. NC State was led by Leigha Hancock, who won three individual event titles at the event, while freshman Taylor Seaman captured the all-around title and earned her third consecutive EAGL Rookie of the Week honor in return.

Record Breaker - Again!
Senior tumbler Kristen Coleman broke the all-around school record for the second time this season, posting a 39.625 in a dual meet with Western Michigan on March 18. Coleman now holds the top two all-around spots in MSU history, as she recorded the previous high (39.525) earlier this season.

National Spotlight
At this point in the season, the GymInfo Top 25 Poll is based on team and individual RQS (Regional Qualifying Score) scores. An RQS score is generated from a team or individual's top six regular-season scores, with three scores coming from away meets. After a week-long absence from the poll, MSU reenters the national scene this week ranked 19th after posting a 195.375 at No. 2 Florida on March 16, and a 196.300 at Western Michigan on March 18.

Individual Notoriety
In the individual national rankings, senior tumbler Kristen Coleman is tied for sixth in the all-around with a season RQS average of 39.420. Coleman also ranks in the national top 25 on the balance beam (t-18th, 9.865), uneven bars (16th, 9.885) and vault (8th, 9.905). Freshmen Nicole Curler and Rochelle Robinson also rank among the national elite. Curler ranks 20th on the floor exercise with a season RQS of 9.875, and Robinson is eighth on vault with a 9.905.

Continued Progress
The Spartans had a rough start to their season on the floor exercise in 2007. After posting a 47.800 to begin the year against Arizona, and a season low 47.200 at the Pittsburgh quad meet, MSU has steadily improved on the event. State ranked sixth in the Big Ten in the Jan. 29 rankings with a season average of 48.125 and currently ranks second in the league with a season RQS of 49.070.

Freshman Firsts
Freshman Megan Bergland captured the first individual event title of her career on the uneven bars (9.900) versus Michigan on March 3. Her score matched the third-highest mark for a Spartan on the event this season. She competed in her first-career all-around competition against West Virginia on Feb. 23, stepping in for injured teammate Rochelle Robinson. The Richland, Mich., native posted a season high on vault (9.625) and scored a 38.725 to finish fourth in the all-around against the Mountaineers.

This And That
Through the first nine meets of the season, the freshmen class has accounted for 20 top-three individual event finishes and one top score in the all-around competition. At least two freshmen have competed in each event at every meet for the Spartans this season. The exception falls in the all-around competition, where only one freshman competed on all four events in the season opener versus Arizona, against Illinois, and most recently versus Michigan.

History Maker
Rochelle Robinson's perfect 10.0 on vault at the Fox Run Invitational on Feb. 10 marks the first flawless score ever recorded by a Spartan gymnast. The Chesapeake, Va., native now holds the top three spots all-time on vault. She set the previous Spartan benchmark with a 9.950 at the Flip For the Cure Meet on Jan. 27.

Kudos "All-Around"
Michigan State has swept the top three spots in the all-around competition just one time this season. Kristen Coleman won her third straight all-around title with a 39.375, while Robinson (38.875) and Katlyn Roggensack (38.775) finished second and third, respectively, at the Fox Run Invitational on Feb. 10.

Spartan Honor Roll
After not receiving a Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honoree since the 2005 season, Michigan State has earned the honor five times in 2007. Kristen Coleman and Rochelle Robinson have won the weekly award twice, and Nicole Curler garnered the honor once this season for the Green and White. Coleman is the most recent recipient, she broke her own all-around school record, previously set on Jan. 27 (39.525), posting a 39.625 against Western Michigan on March 18.

Coleman won her first weekly league laurel on Jan. 31 for her record-breaking performance at the Jan. 27 Flip For The Cure Meet. Coleman set a new Spartan benchmark with a 39.525 in the all-around competition, adding first-place finishes on the bars (9.950) and balance beam (9.850), while she tied with teammate Nicole Curler for first place on the floor exercise (9.850).

Rochelle Robinson garnered her first career Gymnast of the Week honor on Feb. 7 for her outstanding performance at the State of Michigan Classic on Feb. 3. She claimed top honors on vault and floor exercise with a pair of 9.925 scores, and also matched teammate Kristen Coleman's first-place finish on the uneven bars with a mark of 9.825. Robinson helped the Spartans claim the State of Michigan Classic team title, their first since the 2003 season.

Robinson earned her second Gymnast of the Week accolade after becoming the first gymnast in Michigan State history to record a perfect score when she posted a 10.0 on vault at the Fox Run Invitational on Feb. 10. She also claimed second place in the all-around competition with a 38.875. Robinson currently holds the top three vault scores on the MSU all-time record chart.

Curler earned her first-career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor on Jan. 17. Curler picked up the weekly honor after winning both the balance beam (9.925) and floor exercise (9.875), while also tying for first in the all-around against No. 16 Arizona on Jan. 12. The Bay City, Mich., native tied with teammate Kristen Coleman in the all-around competition, tallying a mark of 39.400. Curler helped MSU achieve its highest team mark on the uneven bars since the 2000 season and the third-highest in Spartan history (49.325).

Three Strong
Freshman Rochelle Robinson claimed three individual titles at the prestigious State of Michigan Classic on Feb. 3. She claimed top honors on the vault and floor exercise with a pair of 9.925's, while matching teammate Kristen Coleman for first place on the uneven bars with a mark of 9.825.

Head Coach Kathie Klages
Kathie Klages is in her 17th season at the helm of the Michigan State gymnastics program in 2007. She is a three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year award winner, and has been named Central Region Coach of the Year four times. Klages' teams have been consistently successful, as she has posted a winning record in each of her previous 16 seasons leading the Green and White. In 2006, Klages guided MSU to a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championship Meet, mentored the 10th Big Ten individual event champion in school history (Chayla Hill, vault) and led State to its 15th appearance in NCAA Regional competition.

Scoring Rundown
Unlike other collegiate athletic rankings, collegiate gymnastic rankings are not based on wins and losses or votes. Gymnastic teams are ranked by their meet scores alone. Teams are ranked by their highest score during the opening portion of the season and are then ranked by their total season average. The teams finish the dual-meet season ranked by their Regional Qualifying Score (RQS). A RQS is based on a team's top six regular-season scores, with three scores coming from away meets. To obtain the RQS, the team's or gymnast's highest score is dropped and the remaining five scores are averaged.

Spartan Gymnastics Signs Two For 2008
Two gymnasts have signed National Letters of Intent to attend Michigan State, beginning with the 2007 fall semester. Nicole Argiros (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson High School/Michigan Academy of Gymnastics) and Kathryn Mahoney (Western Spring, Ill./Lyons Township High School/Illinois Gymnastics Institute) will don the Green and White for the 2008 season.

Meet-By-Meet Recap
West Virginia Meet Recap
The Michigan State gymnastics team suffered a 194.875-194.275 defeat to No. 20 West Virginia on Feb. 23 in Morgantown. Despite the loss, the team total was MSU's top road score of the season. Kristen Coleman (39.200) and Nicole Curler (39.050) took second and third, respectively, in the all-around as State's top finishers at the event. Coleman posted a 9.875 on the balance beam to capture MSU's lone individual first-place finish against the Mountaineers. Freshman all-arounder Rochelle Robinson did not compete due to an injury she suffered in preparation for the weekend event.

Illinois Dual
Rochelle Robinson was the only Spartan tumbler to garner an individual first-place finish (9.850, vault) in a loss to fellow Big Ten competitor Illinois on Feb. 17. MSU's Kristen Coleman tied for second as the top Spartan finisher on the uneven bars with a 9.800, Robinson finished tied for third on the balance beam with a season high 9.750, and Coleman and Robinson matched scores of 9.800 to finish tied for second on the floor exercise. Robinson closed a solid all-around effort with a second-place mark of 38.825, while Katlyn Roggensack turned in another consistent all-around performance with a third-place finish of 38.800. Illinois tumbler Nicole Cowart won the all-around title with a 39.025.

Fox Run Invitational
Behind Rochelle Robinson's perfect 10.0 on vault, MSU won its second straight meet with a team score of 194.000 at the Fox Run Invitational on Feb. 10. Robinson's flawless score was the first perfect 10 in Spartan gymnastics history. Host New Hampshire took second with a 193.925, followed by No. 22 West Virginia (193.075) and Brown (184.500).

State Of Michigan Classic
Michigan State won its first State of Michigan Classic since the 2003 season on Feb. 3 at Jenison Field House, posting a season-best team score of 196.350. State defeated then-No. 9 Michigan, who finished second with a score of 195.775, followed by Central Michigan in third (193.475), Eastern Michigan in fourth (193.125) and Western Michigan (191.975) in fifth. Spartan tumbler Kristen Coleman claimed her second consecutive all-around crown with a mark of 39.450, while MSU's Nicole Curler finished second with a score of 39.350.

Flip For The Cure Meet
Despite a school-record and first-place performance of 39.525 by Kristen Coleman in the all-around competition, the Michigan State gymnastics team suffered a 194.850-194.425 defeat to Ohio State on Jan. 27. UIC also competed in the Flip For The Cure Meet, which benefited the American Cancer Society Strides For Breast Cancer cause, finishing third with an overall score of 190.125. Coleman took first-place honors on the uneven bars (9.950) and balance beam (9.850), and finished tied for first on the floor exercise with teammate Nicole Curler with a mark of 9.850. Coleman's all-around tally was the highest Spartan mark since the 1996 season.

Pittsburgh Quad Meet
Despite three Spartans finishing in the top five of the all-around competition, the ninth-ranked Michigan State gymnastics team posted a 192.150, finishing second to No. 11 West Virginia (193.150) and defeating host Pittsburgh (190.725) and Maryland (189.375) at the Pittsbugh Quad Meet on Jan. 19. Freshman tumbler Rochelle Robinson was the top finisher in the all-around for the Green and White, posting a 38.825 to finish second, while teammates Katlyn Roggensack (38.450) and Kristen Coleman (38.425) finished third and fourth, respectively.

Arizona Dual
The 22nd-ranked Michigan State gymnastics team fell to No. 16 Arizona, 194.975-194.925, in the opening meet of the season for both teams at Jenison Field House on Jan. 12. Senior Kristen Coleman and freshman Nicole Curler each posted a 39.400 to tie for first place in the all-around competition for the Green and White, while Arizona's Aubrey Kelly finished third with a score of 39.000.