March 29, 2007
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
Spartan Meet Notes
Big Ten Championship Information / Livestats
The 19th-ranked Michigan State gymnastics team will compete at the 2007 Big Ten Championship Meet on the campus of Penn State University this Saturday at 6 p.m. Minnesota won the event last season, while Michigan has dominated past Championships, winning 13 of the last 15 titles. Michigan State finished second at the meet last year, its highest finish since the 1996 campaign. Six of the seven competing teams are ranked in the GymInfo Top 25 Poll entering Saturday's competition.
The Top Five
Here are the top five things you need to know about the Michigan State gymnastics team heading in to the Big Ten Championship Meet
1. Spartan senior Kristen Coleman has won the all-around competition five times this season. She twice set the Spartan benchmark in that category, most recently against Western Michigan with a 39.625.
2. The MSU freshman class has accounted for 43 top-three individual event finishes this season. Leading the way is Rochelle Robinson with five victories on vault, while Nicole Curler has two first-place finishes on beam, and three on the floor exercise.
3. Rochelle Robinson scored the first perfect 10.0 in Michigan State history on vault at the Fox Run Invitational on Feb. 10. She is one of five gymnasts across the nation to record a perfect score on vault this season.
4. At least two freshmen have competed in each rotation 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.
5. Michigan State has been ranked among the nation's top 25 teams in nine of the 11 weeks of the GymInfo Top 25 Poll, including a preseason ranking at No. 22.
National Spotlight
Entering postseason competition the Spartans are ranked 19th in the March 26 GymInfo Top 25 Poll. 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. MSU's top road score occurred on March 18 at Western Michigan with a 196.300, while its top home score of the season, a 196.350, came at the State of Michigan Classic on Feb. 3.
Individual Notoriety
In the March 26 individual national rankings, senior tumbler Kristen Coleman is seventh in the all-around with a season RQS average of 39.420. Coleman also ranks in the national top 25 on the balance beam (8th, 9.885) and uneven bars (t-19th, 9.885). Freshmen Nicole Curler and Rochelle Robinson also rank among the national elite. Curler ranks 25th on the floor exercise with a season RQS of 9.875, and Robinson is eighth on vault with a 9.905.
Conference First
For the first time in the history of the Big Ten Championships, six teams enter the event ranked in the national top 25. Penn State heads the group, ranked 12th overall with Michigan close behind at 13. Michigan State, who finished second last year at the Big Ten Championships, is ranked 19th in the nation (195.520), followed by No. 20 Ohio State (195.215), No. 21 Illinois (195.090) and No. 23, defending Big Ten Champion Minnesota (194.775). Iowa is ranked 32nd in the country with a 194.340 average.
Prior Big Ten Championships In State College
The Big Ten Championship meet has been held at Penn State just two times - in 1994 and 2000. MSU finished fourth at the 1994 event with a team score of 188.475, and fifth at the 2000 meet with a mark of 193.825.
Michigan State At The 2006 Championships
The Spartans finished second on their home floor at the 2006 Championship Meet with a team score of 194.975. It marked the first time MSU had reached the podium at the conference meet since 1997 and was the highest finish for the Spartans since earning back-to-back second-place finishes in 1995 and 1996. MSU junior Chayla Hill finished as co-champion on the vault in a five-way tie for first with a 9.800. Kristen Coleman finished in a tie for second in the all-around competition with a score of 39.100. On the balance beam, Briana Dicus came away with a third-place finish, scoring a 9.825. Spartan head coach Kathie Klages received Co-Big Ten Coach of the Year honors with Penn State's Steve Shepard.
Past Big Ten Champions
Michigan State has had 10 Big Ten Champions in its history. MSU has had two vault, four uneven bar, five balance beam and two floor exercise champions. A Spartan gymnast has never won the all-around competition at the Big Ten Championship Meet. Michelle Ingalls won three individual event titles during the 1988 season. She took first on the uneven bar, balance beam and floor exercise events. Current senior Chayla Hill tied for first-place honors on the vault during the 2006 season, marking the first MSU Big Ten Champion since the 1996 campaign.
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 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).
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 year at the Jan. 27 Flip For The Cure Meet.
