March 20, 2008

Head Coach Kathie Klages' Weekly Press Conference
Weekly Meet Notes
Live Results

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The No. 15-ranked Michigan State gymnastics team concludes the 2008 regular season with a road contest at No. 11 Arkansas on Friday night at 8 p.m. ET in Barnhill Arena.

The Spartans dropped one spot to No. 15 in the latest GymInfo national ranking with a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 195.560 and a team average of 194.823. The numbers also rank MSU fourth in the Central region (trailing No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Alabama and No. 12 Auburn) and second in the Big Ten Conference, behind only No. 4 Michigan.

Michigan State is in the top 25 nationally in each event. The Spartans are 12th on the beam with a 49.000 RQS and have their highest RQS on the vault with a 49.065 to also stand in 12th. They are tied for 18th on the bars with a 48.880 and currently are 24th on the floor at 48.865. Among Big Ten foes, the Spartans are second on the vault, beam and bars, while in the region, they are third on bars and fourth on both the vault and beam. MSU is fifth in the Big Ten and sixth in the Central on the floor.

Each one of the 13 Spartans who have appeared in the competitive lineup this season have placed among the top-three in at least one event. MSU has totaled 91 top-three individual finishes so far, with 60 coming from the talented sophomore class. Sophomore Nicole Curler leads the way with 24 podium finishes, followed by sophomore Rochelle Robinson (18) and junior Katlyn Roggensack (11).

The Spartans have also seen seven student-athletes win or share an individual title in 2008. MSU has 33 individual finish place finishes, led by 11 from Robinson and nine from Curler. Again, the sophomore class accounts for 25 of the 33 wins.

Friday will be the first meeting between Michigan State and Arkansas.

Arkansas (7-6) is ranked No. 11 according to GymInfo with a 196.100 RQS. As a team, they are among the top 15 in the nation in all four events. The Lady Backs rank ninth on the floor (49.165), 10th on the vault (49.170), 12th on the bars (48.980) and 15th on the beam (48.965). Arkansas tied its program-high with a 196.625 in a tight loss to No. 9 Oklahoma on Saturday. Sophomore Casey Jo Magee is tied for seventh in the nation on the bars with a 9.885 RQS.