The Michigan State gymnastics team absolutely dominated Penn State on Saturday night to attain its fourth-highest score in program history.
MSU took the meet by nearly two whole points with a final score of 197.450-195.475.
The Spartans kicked off the meet on the vault, and senior Nyah Smith got the ball rolling with a solid 9.850.
Sophomore Gabrielle Stephen held it down in the anchor position in the first event for the Spartans with a huge stuck landing. Stephen scored a career-high 9.925 that secured her vault title.
The Nittany Lions put up some beautiful routines on the uneven bars, but a few landing mishaps allowed for the Spartans to pull away with the 49.350-48.875 lead.
Stephen made an incredible showing once again on the uneven bars. The sophomore nailed her landing and sent the packed Jenison Field House crowd into a frenzy.
Senior Jori Jackard followed Stephen and had an incredible amount of power. Unfortunately, Jackard was a little too powerful on the transition between the bars and was unable to hang on. The senior continued the routine after her fall, but ultimately scored just a 9.200.
Taking first place on the uneven bars was freshman Nikki Smith, who had an incredible performance from start to finish to earn a 9.925.
The slew of strong performances on the uneven parallel bars from every Spartan gymnast gave MSU its season-high bar score of 49.400.
Penn State put on a solid show on the vault with a stand-out performance from freshman Ava Piedrahita to tie Gabrielle Stephen for first place on the apparatus with a 9.925.
In the third rotation, the Spartans took to the beam and were faced with a few challenges.
Michigan State uncharacteristically struggled with balance checks on many of their beam routines, and freshman Olivia Zsarmani even fell off the beam mid-routine for a low 9.175 score.
Stephen showed out on yet another event putting on an all-around clean and energized performance that got her a 9.900.
In the anchor spot, junior Baleigh Garcia demonstrated why she deserved that position in the lineup. Garcia put on a strong, gorgeous performance that sent loud cheers through the building. The junior scored a 9.925, and secured the first place position on the balance beam.
The Nittany Lions had a complete strong rotation on the floor putting up 48.7 points — just not enough to close in on Michigan State’s 1.325-point lead.
Despite junior Delanie Harkness’s rough landing on her first pass, the Spartans dominated on the floor.
Sophomore Skyla Schulte led the pack with a huge 9.925 to take the floor title, followed by junior Giana Kalefe with a 9.900 and then Stephens and Smith both with a 9.875.
Stephen had an incredible night Saturday and put up some extremely high numbers to take the all-around title with a 39.575.
Head Coach Mike Rowe said that the team last year had a great start, but their scores started to plateau in the 196 range — which is still great, but the scores need to be higher for national qualifying. Getting above that 197 hump Saturday night was a large accomplishment for the Spartans.
