Co-hosts Jalen Walker and Erin Eschels sit down with MSU women’s gymnastics head coach Kathie Klages, junior Alina Cartwright, and freshman Elena Lagoski on their first episode of A-Score.
This episode features gymnastics 101, a recap of the Big Ten Championships, a brief gymnastics history lesson, a preview for the NCAA Regionals, and much more!
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The Lady Spartans are back at Jenison Field House this weekend after returning home from a quad meet in Texas.
Last week against Oklahoma, Minnesota and Texas, the Spartans placed fourth with a total score of 194.350, even with season-high scores on vault and floor. Sophomore Lisa Burt had a standout performance, winning the all-around competition for the third time this year, with a score of 39.225. Teammate Alina Cartwright tied for second place, finishing just behind Burt with a total of 39.200.
In a close contest, MSU gymnastics lost to the Western Michigan Broncos Friday night.
Western Michigan scored a season-high 195.00 to defeat the Michigan State Spartans, who had a score of 194.775. Even though this was another loss for Michigan State, this was their highest score of the season.
MSU hosted the Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday night for the eighth annual Jan Howard Breast Cancer Awareness Meet. Jenison Field House was filled with fans wearing pink to show their support. Reaching over 900 fans in attendance, this was a season high for MSU gymnastics.
“It was awesome to have so many fans sitting in the crowd in pink,” MSU coach Kathie Klages said. “It just warms my heart to see that many people out to support this cause.”
The Michigan State gymnastics team is still in search of their first victory after Friday night’s effort against No. 4 Michigan. This was the team’s first away meet of the season. The final score of the meet was 196.800 – 193.900 and was a 1.15 increase from the Spartan’s previous meet.
The Spartans started out on the uneven bars for the first time this season. It turned out to be to MSU’s advantage as they posted a 48.675, which was their highest score of the season. Spartan Lisa Burt led the event with a season-high 9.8. Also, Ashley Noll posted her career high score of 9.750 and Michigan’s Joanna Sampson won the event with a 9.975.
MSU welcomed Penn State to Jenison Field House on Saturday afternoon. The Nittany Lions dominated as a team with a score of 194.825-192.750. MSU is now 0-3 on the season and Penn State is 7-1.
Led by senior Kassidy Stauder, the Nittany Lions won all events except the floor and all-around. Five of the top seven performers on the bars were from PSU. Although Penn State got the victory, head coach Jeff Thompson was displeased. For the third time this season there were two falls from the beam. Thompson was also surprised by the Spartans’ performance.
This week, the Lady Spartans of the gymnastics team will host Penn State in their fourth annual Autism Awareness Meet. Dominique Moceanu, a 1996 Olympic gold medalist, will be making a guest appearance to support the cause.
After coming off a close loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers, Michigan State will be opening their Big Ten season in this matchup with the Nittany Lions. Last week, all-around gymnast Alina Cartwright was out due to a neck injury in warm-ups. There is no word yet whether or not she will be back to compete this week.
The MSU gymnastics team fell in another close battle versus Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon with a score of 193.025 – 192.525.
The Spartans were missing a major piece not having Alina Cartwright in the rotation for the meet. Cartwright led the Spartans and head coach Kathy Klages shared that it was to be a precautionary decision regarding a neck injury.
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The MSU gymnastics team will be facing off against the Pittsburgh Panthers this weekend.
The Spartans broke into the Top 25 rankings according to GymInfo this Monday, securing the 25th spot.
The ‘Victory Plank’ will not be coming to East Lansing for a fourth straight year.
The Spartans fell to the Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois in their home opener Friday night. With a strong start from the Spartans and close competition throughout the night, the meet came down to the wire. In the end, the Illini edged the Spartans by a final score of 195.352 – 194.150.
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