No. 13 Michigan State Shatters School Record with 198.225

EAST LANSING, Mich. (MSU Athletics) - With two perfect 10.0s on the day, Michigan State set the school record with a score of 198.225 Sunday afternoon at Jenison Field House. Sunday was also the Spartans’ annual Jan Howard Breast Cancer Awareness Meet.

With the victory, Michigan State improved to 13-2 overall (8-1 B1G), while Bowling Green dropped to 4-13 (0-5 MAC) and LIU fell to 8-12-1 (1-6-1 EAGL).”It was great being home today, back in Jenison. We have been on a hiatus for a little while. It seemed like we had been away from this place for like a month. And the message was just ‘hey these fans are waiting to see what the chatter has been all about, let’s just give them a show’,” said head coach Mike Rowe. “It was that easy. That’s all I had to say and then step back and watch it happen.”

The Spartans became just the eighth team in the country this season to surpass the 198.000 mark. Bowling Green finished second with a mark of 196.200 with LIU taking third with a score of 196.100. MSU’s 198.225 broke its previous school record of 197.675 set on Feb. 25 at the Big Five Meet.

Overall, Michigan State set five program records on the day.

Freshman Nikki Smith led the Spartans with a brilliant all-around score of 39.775, which shattered the school record and was the ninth-best in the nation this year. Sophomore Skyla Schulte previously held the record with a 39.675 on March 5, 2022.

For the third time this season, Michigan State broke the school record with a 49.575 on vault. Freshman Nikki Smith got the Spartans off to a terrific start with the school’s perfect 10.0 since 2008 on vault. She tied Rhiannon Banda-Scott (2008) and Rochelle Robinson (2007) as the only two MSU gymnastics to record a perfect 10.0 in any event. Schulte finished second with a career-high score of 9.952, while sophomore Gabi Stephen tied for third with a 9.90.

In their second rotation, the Spartans broke another school record score of 49.550, breaking the record of 49.525 set at Eastern Michigan on March 3. The record setting day continued on bars when senior Jori Jackard recorded Michigan State’s first 10.0 on bars. Her previous best this season was a 9.90 against Illinois on Feb. 27. Junior Delanie Harkness and Nikki Smith tied for second with scores of 9.950. Harkness’ scored tied her career high.

Michigan State continued its excellence on became beam with a school-record score of 49.600. The previous record was 49.500 against Illinois on Feb. 13, 2022. Junior Baleigh Garcia took won the event with a 9.950 to tied her career high. Smith and Schulte tied for second with matching 9.925 scores. MSU had five athletes score 9.900 or higher.

The Spartans rounded out the meet winning floor with a score of 49.500, which was the third time this season they have gotten to the 49.500 plateau. Harkness took the event title with a scored of 9.950, which was a career high. Schulte took second with a 9.925, while Smith’s impressive day continued with a 9.900 to finish third.”There are so many great things going on and it’s spread so far over so many different people. All of them are contributing,” concluded Rowe. “It was so nice that our depth is really doing their job. So, there are some unsung heroes that aren’t getting the love right now. They are getting it from us, but they aren’t getting it from everybody else. We need to get their names out there because these guys have been stepping up and doing a good job.”

Michigan State will celebrate Senior Day and close out the regular season on Saturday, March 11 against Northern Illinois at Jenison Field House at 7 p.m.

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