No. 10 Michigan State Gymnastics Set for NCAA Pittsburgh Regionals

PITTSBURGH (MSU Athletics) - No. 10 Michigan State (22-3, 8-1) travels to Pittsburgh for the NCAA Pittsburgh Regionals on March 31 and April 2. The Spartans will begin competition in the first session of the Second Round on Friday, March 31 at 2 p.m., and compete in the regional finals at 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 2 if they advance on Friday. The meet will be held at Pittsburgh’s Peterson Events Center. All sessions of the meet will stream on ESPN+. Live results will be available on MSUSpartans.com

MSU takes on No. 7 Cal, Western Michigan and West Virginia on Friday in the first session on Friday. No. 2 Florida, No. 15 Arizona State, No. 24 Maryland and the winner of a Thursday play-in dual between Penn State and Towson will compete in the second session. The top two teams from each session advance to Sunday’s regional final. The top two teams from the regional final advance to the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas on April 13 and 15.

MSU has qualified to nationals once as a team in program history, finishing 12th in 1988. Current sophomore Skyla Schulte competed as an individual in 2022 on beam.

THE MATCHUP

MSU enters the weekend at 22-5 (8-1 B1G) after finishing second at the Big Ten Championships on March 18. The Spartans posted their eighth 197.000-plus team score of the season with a 197.550 to earn runner-up honors behind Michigan. MSU’s finish marked its second-straight year as Big Ten runner-ups. The Spartans ended the regular season ranked 10th in the Road to Nationals rankings, posting a national qualifying score of 197.595. The Spartans rank eighth on vault (49.380), eighth on bars (49.435), 12th on beam (49.385) and ninth on floor (49.500).Cal is the highest-ranked opponent for MSU in the second round, entering the weekend at No. 7 with an NQS of 197.825. The Golden Bears finished third at the Pac-12 Championships behind Utah and UCLA. Western Michigan holds an NQS of 196.590 and West Virginia posts an NQS of 196.515. The Broncos finished fourth at the MAC Championships, while the Mountaineers placed third at the Big 12 Championships.

LAST TIME OUT

MSU’s beam (49.525) and floor (49.425) scores were the highest team scores at the Big Ten Championships on the two events. MSU also posted the second-highest score of the meet on bars (49.350) and third-best on vault (49.250).Two Spartans were crowned individual Big Ten Champions for the first time since a three-way tie on floor in 2017. Freshman Sage Kellerman earned a share of the vault title with a career-high 9.925 and junior Delanie Harkness won a share of the bars title, tying her career high with a 9.950. Kellerman’s vault title was the first for a Spartan since ChaylaHill in 2006, while Harkness’ bars title marked MSU’s first bars title since Wendy Minch in 1995. Kellerman’s title also marked the first for an MSU freshman since Carolyn Hecht (beam) in 1996.Sophomore Skyla Schulte found herself on the podium three times at the Big Ten Championships, finishing second in the all-around with a season-high 39.625, second on beam with a 9.950 and third on floor with a 9.925. Junior Baleigh Garcia joined Schulte on the beam podium, also scoring a 9.950 in a tie for silver.MSU head coach Mike Rowe was named Big Ten Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the meet, his second-straight year earning the honor. Nikki Smith was named Freshman of the Year, marking the second-straight year a Spartan has collected the honor after Schulte was tabbed Freshman of the Year in 2022.

ROWE RETURNS TO PITTSBURGH

This weekend will be a homecoming for MSU head coach Mike Rowe, who served as an assistant coach at Pittsburgh from 2005 to 2014 before joining the Spartans as an assistant coach. MSU and Pittsburgh are Rowe’s only collegiate coaching stops.

UP NEXT

The 2023 NCAA Gymnastics Championships are scheduled for April 13 and 15 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The top two teams from the four regional finals will qualify to the eight-team national championship.

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