UPDATE: The Spartans did it, defeating all four opponents in their session of the Big Five Meet, clinching back to back regular season Big Ten championships and the first outright regular season championship in program history.
ORIGINAL POST BELOW:
There is Spartan gymnastics history to be made Friday night.
The Michigan State gymnastics team will carry its best-ever national ranking, No. 8, into Penn State’s Rec Hall as it looks to claim its first ever outright Big Ten regular season title – as well as its first ever back-to-back Big Ten regular season titles – when the Spartans square up with No. 14 Ohio State, No. 15 Minnesota, No. 23 Nebraska, and Rutgers at 6:00 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
It's called the Big Five Meet because on Friday night, all five teams will compete at the same time.
Beat three of the four teams and the Spartans are back-to-back Big Ten champions.
Beat all four and Michigan State will sit alone at the top of standings with their first ever outright Big Ten Championship.
“This week is another great opportunity for our program,” said associate MSU gymnastics head coach Nicole Jones. “(Playing for the Big Ten Championship) was always the plan. We knew the talent we had on the team and the girls never shied away from saying this was a goal of theirs.”
The Spartans are the only undefeated team in league play, having rolled through the Big Ten this season with a perfect 5-0 record, including a massive victory on the road against rival Michigan.
Minnesota, Ohio State, and Michigan all stand one game back of Michigan State in the Big Ten standings.
“Even though we know what we want out of the weekend, the mindset stays the same,” said Jones. “Control what we can control, have fun, and let the rest speak for itself. We are excited for another opportunity to get to do what we love with the people we love.”
Friday night, Michigan State looks to move to 9-0 in the conference and become only the fourth team to go undefeated since the Big Ten began awarding regular season championships in 2013 (Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa). MSU also looks to join Michigan and Minnesota as the only teams to win consecutive regular season titles in Big Ten gymnastics.
In the national team event rankings, the Spartans sit No. 7 on vault, No. 6 on bars, No. 9 on beam, and No. 14 on floor.
During this recent surge in the Michigan State gymnastics program under the leadership of seventh-year head coach Mike Rowe, the Spartans have performed well in the Big Five sessions, winning each of the last two years.
The Big Ten conference is the largest gymnastics conference in the country with 10 teams. During the season, teams compete in five dual meets, home and away, before meeting up as a league for two sessions to play the remaining four teams, with the regular season championship on the line.
With four teams competing on each of the events at once (and one on a bye rotation), the teams get to just run their lineup, with no waiting around. Rowe thinks that will help the Spartans on Friday night.
“We’re used to focusing on being in our own little bubble, in our own little zone,” said Rowe after practice this week. “The team is very focused. We’re not looking to make any huge changes. Just do what you’re comfortable doing.”
The Spartan gymnasts have come together as a team this year, improving upon last year’s impressive run to the shared Big Ten regular season championship.
“We all mesh really well together in order to push each other to be the best version of ourselves,” said sophomore gymnast Sage Kellerman, who was named Big Ten Event Specialist for the third time this season for her performance last weekend against Maryland. “We’re all super excited to show everybody what we can do. Winning last year was a realization for us of how good we are. Now we know how good we are, so we just want to show everybody.”
Prior to his coaching career, Rowe was a professional dancer from 1985-1997 on tours and in commercial/music video performances, building on the skills he developed as a member of the cheer squad at Michigan State (class of 1985). In preparation for the Big Five Meet – and Michigan State’s chance at another championship this weekend – Rowe harkened back to his time in musical theater and likened the gymnasts’ performance to being part of a theater troupe.
“The routines become easier when their confidence rises; they know they can do it on any given day – and they just ‘push play,’” Rowe said. “From my perspective, I love the theatrical reference – it’s another show. Let’s see what we’ve got.”
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