Taking home first place at the meet and winning a share of the Big Ten title was No. 9 Nebraska, with 197.050 points, followed by No. 14 Illinois with 196.875. No. 23 Ohio State came in fourth - 0.525 behind the Spartans - with a score of 195.675.
“We’ve been talking about the girls performing how they practice, and they finally did it,” head coach Kathie Klages said. “We went 23 for 23 (routines).”
The Spartans usually have 24 girls competing, but they only had five girls compete on vault this time - still hitting all routines with no falls. Sophomore Lisa Burt said it was a boost in the team’s confidence.
“We aspire next week to do even better. We got this far and we can go even further,” she said.
MSU’s improvement shows in the team’s individual and team scores - their lowest score of the season was a 192.525 at their second meet on Jan. 18 against Pittsburgh.
“I’m very excited for the team. They finally did what they were trying to do ... I credit the hard work of the girls and the coaching staff,” Klages said.
Besides improving the overall team score, athletes like senior Dani Levy raised and tied previous records. It was Levy’s last time competing at Jenison Field House.
“I’m actually done now,” she said. “I’m happy with how it ended and it’s great to go out like that.”
Another gymnast who got her personal-best all-around score was junior Alina Cartwright, placing fourth with a 39.375. Both Cartwright and Burt placed first on beam - both setting personal records in the event.
Burt also finished third in the all-around competition, setting the team record and a personal best of 39.400.
“I’m happy for my performance more than for my placement,” Burt said. “My placement doesn’t matter as long as it helps the team score.”
In the quad meet, Burt placed behind Nebraska senior Emily Wong and junior Jessie DeZiel, who got first and second with a 39.625 and a 39.425 respectively.
“We will still get back in the gym and get better - we can be and we are better,” Nebraska head coach Dan Kendig said. “We’ll enjoy the heck out of this tonight, but Monday’s back to business.”
Nebraska had a fall on bars, but they quickly recovered to still place first.
“You can be a good coach, but if your team doesn’t listen, it’s like, ‘You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.’ It’s a truly mental game ... they pick up their teammates,” Kendig said.
Nebraska, along with MSU, Illinois and Ohio State, will be competing in the Big Ten Championships at noon or 6 p.m. on March 22, depending on each team’s seeds - the Spartans are seeded third in the afternoon session.
