In its second meet of the season, the MSU gymnastics team will travel to Iowa City, Iowa on Friday for an 8 p.m. competition against the No. 25 Hawkeyes.
While most MSU teams typically have a nonconference schedule before Big Ten competition, the Spartans (0-1) are launching right into their conference schedule early in the season. They hope to improve on last season’s conference effort, when the Spartans failed to beat a Big Ten opponent.
The Spartans are coming off a 193.175-191.875 loss to No. 16 Washington at home, while the Hawkeyes return stateside after placing fourth in the Cancun Classic with a team score of 193.875.
In the meet against Washington, the Spartans finished with a team score of 46.875 on balance beam — a rotation head coach Kathie Klages believes could be her team’s strongest suit. Afterward, Klages said the low score could be attributed to nerves, and she would have to find a way to simulate a competition-like atmosphere in practice.
“We put more pressure on them to be able to hit under extreme circumstances, and I think we had a real good week of practice,” Klages said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how we execute.”
MSU is starting off its season by facing some of the toughest competition in the nation, not only in Washington and Iowa, but also against No. 13 Penn State and No. 2 Alabama next week at a tri-meet in University Park, Penn.
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