Gymnasts ready for NCAA Regional

By Matt Flint | Originally Published: 04/12/07 12:00am |Modified: 08/28/09 6:30pm | No comments

| The State News

From left to right: Marty Reader, Abe Cross, Brian Potocki and Matt Cross cheer on the Spartans gymnastics team. The group comes to every home Spartans gymnastics meet to cheer on the lady gymnasts.

If anything is going to bring the MSU gymnastics team to victory, it will be its teamwork.

Team-oriented workouts, spirited group cheers and a solid support system have been regular parts of the team's vigorous preparation for the NCAA Central Regional Championship meet Saturday.

"It helps us bond and learn how to perform as a team," freshman Nicole Curler said of the cooperative approach.

"We are much more of a full pack. We don't have any missing links."

The 19th-ranked Spartans travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to compete in the regional meet. This is the 17th time the team has competed in the event, and the fifth time in the past six seasons.

The top two teams in Saturday's competition will advance to the national championships in Salt Lake City, April 26-28.

No. 3-ranked Alabama earned the No. 1 seed at the event. The teams separating the Spartans from Alabama are 10th-ranked and No. 2-seeded Oklahoma and 16th-ranked and No. 3-seeded Iowa State.

MSU head coach Kathie Klages said she expects Alabama take first place at the meet, but believes her team is qualified to place second and proceed to nationals later this month.

"We're as talented, but you have to prove it on the competition floor," Klages said.

After the disappointing seventh-place outcome at the Big Ten Championship, the hardest obstacle to overcome is the psychological aspect of competing, sophomore Katlyn Roggensack said.

"Physically, we are totally ready for this meet," Roggensack said. "What we've been focusing on is the mental component.

"We've been able to build on past performances and improve."

Part of the mental component is enjoying the sport, something Curler said will set the team apart from other competitors at the regional meet.

"A lot of people are so committed to competing and winning that they forget to have fun," Curler said. "Our team does a good job competing and having fun."

In addition to the advancing teams, the top two winners in each event will go to the national championships.

Although the placed seventh in the Big Ten Championship as a team, three MSU gymnasts were recognized for outstanding work.

Curler, freshman Rochelle Robinson and senior Kristen Coleman earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors. This was the first time in the university's history that three gymnasts earned this title.

Coleman also was honored as Big Ten Gymnast of the Year.