Morley’s effort not enough as MSU falls to Gators

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With a contingent of family and friends in attendance, Kelsey Morley couldn’t deny feeling something special going into Saturday’s meet.

The sophomore was at her very best for the MSU gymnastics team in its dual meet against No. 9 Florida at Jenison Field House, setting a school record on the balance beam and a career high for all-around competition in the team’s 196.850-194.775 loss to the Gators.

“My (former) teammate is a manager for Florida and we were best friends growing up,” Morley said. “So my gym back home all came up to see me, so I had a crowd of about 30-35 people just to see me and my teammate from Florida.

“I just really wanted to go out there and give them a big performance and I feel like I did.”

The team notched its highest score of the season and had four top-three finishes in respective events. Both teams had season-high team scores in the meet.

Morley earned a score of 9.675 on the vault and 9.775 on the uneven bars before impressing the crowd of 1,222 with her performance on the beam.

She earned a 10.000 from one judge, but a score of 9.95 from the other brought her down to a 9.975 overall on the event, still leaving her with the school record.

“I was just taking it one skill at a time,” she said. “When I hit my first skill, I felt the confidence immediately that this was going to be a good routine and I just tried to stay as calm as I possibly could. I felt like that one was going to be the one.”

The crowd and Morley’s teammates knew the performance was special when she dismounted and were cheering for a 10, but Morley agreed with the judge’s assessments.

“Honestly, I thought there was a little wobble in there so I deserved the 9.95,” she said. “But I was honored to get the 10.”

With MSU gymnastics alumni on hand for the team’s first home dual meet of the season, previous balance beam record holder Sarah Alexander — a score of 9.95 set on March 7, 2004 and formerly part of a five-way tie for the record — presented the award to Morley.

“It’s just really touching because, as much as it’s really exciting to hold a record here at MSU, my alums want to see a record broken and see someone do even better,” MSU head coach Kathie Klages said.

Morley took first in the beam, third in the all-around competition — a career-high 39.225 — and junior Emily Lopatofsky and senior Katlyn Roggensack tied for second in the floor exercise with scores of 9.875.

Florida improved its record to 13-0 against the Spartans, but utilized a season-high score to do so.

Many of the Spartans, including Morley, have relationships with the Florida program, as junior Rochelle Robinson competed with the team in the NCAA Tournament two years ago and MSU associate head coach Randy Lane worked as an assistant coach there from 2003-06.

“It’s awesome to compete against one of the top schools in the nation,” sophomore Nicole Argiros said. “They do amazing gymnastics and to compete against them is a privilege.”

The Spartans return to action at 7 p.m. Friday, traveling to Pittsburgh.

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