MSU gymnastics team finishes third in four-team meet

The balance beam was the MSU gymnastics team’s undoing in its season opener Friday night at Jenison Field House.

No. 17 MSU finished the four-team meet in third place behind No. 8 Michigan and No. 16 Illinois while beating Western Michigan for the 54th straight time.

MSU started the meet strong, earning more than 48 out of 50 on the vault and uneven bars, but could not overcome several falls on the balance beam to win the meet. MSU scored a 46.475 in the event, which was the second-lowest round of the entire meet.

MSU head coach Kathy Klages said she was impressed with how her team bounced back after its “horrendous” performance on the beam by scoring a 48 on the floor exercise.

“They put it behind them like we told them to do and came out and did their job on the floor,” Klages said. “We’re proud of them for that, but I can tell you this team is a lot better than what you saw tonight.”

Junior Rochelle Robinson said she expected inconsistency in the team’s first meet.

“We can always build on this,” Robinson said. “The first (meet) is always filled with mistakes and you never know what’s going to happen. For now we know what we need to do, so we can only go up from here.”

Robinson competed in only two events after undergoing surgery on both ankles during the offseason. Robinson, who admitted she isn’t 100 percent healthy, helped motivate the team when she wasn’t competing.

“You’ve got to realize there’s other jobs than just competing,” Robinson said. “Yelling and supporting your team and standing there is actually an important job.”

To eliminate MSU’s mental mistakes, Klages said she plans to put extra pressure on the gymnasts in practice so they’re more prepared for the pressure in meets.

The Spartans are ranked in the GymInfo Preseason Coaches Poll for the second consecutive year, and Klages said she expects the program to compete for a NCAA Championship spot this season.