EAST LANSING — The Michigan State gymnastics team will not complete the remainder of the 2021 season due to health and safety concerns stemming from continued COVID-19 related issues. 

The Spartans competed in just two meets this season, which were both tri-meets, before the program went into a pause on Feb. 25 due to COVID-19 positive cases and precautionary contact tracing measures. 

“It’s an extremely unfortunate situation, but due to the multiple quarantines and shut downs creating missed training time, out of concern for the health and safety of the gymnasts and their ability to safely compete, we decided this was in the best interest of our student-athletes,” MSU Director of Athletics Bill Beekman said. “I’d like to thank Coach Mike Rowe and his team for all their efforts this season. Our student-athletes have shown relentless resilience and grit, and I know they’ll be back stronger and better than ever.”

“I commend our team that they kept trying to finish the season, but ultimately, this is the right decision, based  on the extreme difficulty of having enough training time to safely get ready for competition,” MSU gymnastics head coach Mike Rowe said. “I would like to thank our medical staff, Dr. Sally Nogle and Destiny Teachnor-Hauk, for their never-ending hard work, as well as Bill Beekman and Jennifer Smith for their understanding and support during these difficult times.”

The Spartans end the season with a record of 2-2, winning the season-opening tri-meet against Nebraska and No. 26 Ohio State on Jan. 30, while dropping another tri-meet against No. 20 Illinois and OSU.