MSU GYMNASTICS: Strong Floor Performance Helps MSU to third-place finish at Cal
Final Statistics:
http://calstats.net/w-gym/03042016.html
East Lansing, Mich. -- Competing in its third quad meet of the season, Michigan State finished third behind No. 12 California and Southern Utah and ahead of Lindenwood on Friday night at Hass Pavilion. Senior Lisa Burt finished second in All-Around with a score of 39.25, earning top-eight finishes in each of the four events. Brittany Holmes took third, with a 38.65.
The home team posted their third-highest score of the season with a 196.650, and Southern Utah pulled ahead of MSU with a strong finish on vault in the fourth rotation to contribute to a 195.050. The Spartans finished with 194.875, and Lindenwood was third with a 193.550.
MSU led off the meet on its strongest event – floor exercise – and scored an impressive 49.125. Senior Brittney Holmes started off the Spartans with a 9.75. Anna Gamelo, a sophomore, made her season debut on floor and posted a 9.725, and senior Lisa Burt followed with a 9.875, her season best on the event. Ashley Noll posted a 9.625, and MSU’s last two routines came from the rapidly-improving freshman Drew Hendershot and event anchor Elena Lagoski. Hendershot scored a 9.825, and Lagoski cemented a strong team performance by tying her career-best 9.95, a score she had posted three times in the 2015 and is tied for fifth all-time in the MSU record book. Lagoski was the gold medalist on the night in the event, outlasting the duo of Toni-Ann Williams (9.925) and Zoe Draghi from Cal (9.9), and Burt captured fourth. It was the sixth floor title of the season for Lagoski, and 16th of her career.
MSU’s 49.125 team score on floor was just .025 shy of one of the top 30 scores in school history. It was the fourth time this season and the third straight meet that MSU scored a 49.1 or better in the event. Cal edged MSU with a 49.325 team score in the event.
Moving to vault, Lisa Burt gave MSU early confidence boost with a 9.8, and Gamelo and Holmes followed her with identical scores of 9.7. The freshman Hendershot tied her career best in the No. 4 spot, earning a 9.75. Haley Sedgewick followed with a 9.725, and Roya Shirley capped MSU’s vault performance with a 9.675 to contribute to MSU’s team score of 48.70 on the apparatus. Burt finished in a tie for fifth as the Spartans’ top scorer.
Michigan State moved on to bars for the third rotation, standing in second place (97.80) behind host No. 12 Cal (98.175). Holmes led off with a 9..65, tying her season best in the event. Gamelo, competing in three events for the first time this season, earned a 9.7, just off her career high of 9.75 set at Michigan on Valentine’s Day. Classmate Hailee Westney followed Gamelo by posting a 9.8, and freshman Jessica Ling came up with a big routine in the No. 5 spot, earning a 9.8, and Burt anchored MSU’s effort on the bars by matching Ling’s team-best 9.8. For Ling, it was her third straight meet with a 9.8 or better in the event, while Westney’s 9.8 was .025 short of her season best, which she recorded against both Michigan and Illinois. Roya Shirley made her exhibition debut, earning a 9.75 from one judge and 9.45 from the second, for a 9.625 exhibition result. Overall, MSU earned a team score of 48.750, and MSU held on to the second spot in the quad standings through three events, (146.55), trailing the host Bears (147.325) and ahead of third-place Southern Utah (146.175). Burt, Westney and Ling shared eighth place with their top team scores of 9.8.
The Spartans wrapped up the competition on beam. Holmes led off for the third time in the four events, and earned a 9.55. Lagoski had a tough go, but came back strong after a fall and earned a 9.15. MSU got back on track with a 9.65 from Noll and a 9.725 from Westney, which was her season-best score in the event. Sedgewick (9.60) made her Spartan debut on beam, and Burt anchored MSU with a team-best score of 9.775, which made for a seventh-place finish among individuals.
The Spartans wrap up a busy competition weekend with a second meet on Sunday, traveling to No. 11 Boise State for a competition that begins at 4 pm ET.
