MSU's Smith, Schulte, Qualify for NCAA Championships

The Michigan State gymnastics team finished its season with the most wins in program history. Two Spartans will now individually represent the Green and White in the NCAA Championships.

Michigan State’s gymnastics team recently advanced to its third consecutive NCAA Regional Final, but its season ended after finishing fourth in the competition. MSU’s gymnastics team finished with a 29-7 record, marking the gymnastics program’s highest win total ever. MSU performed admirably but finished fourth behind Florida, Utah, and Missouri. However, multiple Spartans qualified for the 2024 NCAA Gymnastics Championships individually.

The NCAA announced that Michigan State sophomore Nikki Smith and junior Skyla Schulte will represent the Spartans in Fort Worth, Texas. Smith will compete on the beam. Schulte will compete on the floor. Both will compete as individuals.

Just as the Spartans have made it to the regional finals three consecutive seasons, they have sent individual qualifiers to the NCAA Championships for three straight seasons. It is the second consecutive season they have sent two or more individual qualifiers to the NCAA Championships. This is the first time they’ve sent at least two individual qualifiers to the NCAA Championships in consecutive seasons since 1996-97.

It will be Schulte’s second trip to the NCAA Championships in the last three seasons. She is the first Spartan Gymnast to qualify for multiple NCAA Championships since 2007-08 when Rochelle Robinson accomplished the feat. Schulte is the third Spartan to do so ever, joining Robinson in 1993 and Jodi Blotcher in 1996, respectively. 

During the second round of the NCAA Gainesville Regional, Schulte finished in a five-way tie for fifth on the floor with a 9.900. The junior won on a four-judge total tiebreaker, making her the top individual not on a qualifying team. 

In the second round, Smith registered a career-high 9.950. It was only her third appearance in the beam lineup this season, making her performance even more impressive. She finished with a share of second place in the event. 

This will be Schulte’s first appearance at the NCAA Championships since 2022, when she was a freshman. In her last appearance, she earned Second-Team All-American honors on beam en route to becoming MSU's first beam All-American and third All-American overall. 

This will be Smith’s first trip to the NCAA Championships. Smith also marks the third individual beam qualifier for the Spartans in the last three years. She’s the first to do so since Schulte did so in 2022 and junior Gabrielle Stephen last season. Smith’s 9.950 in the regional finals is tied for the second-best score on beam in program history. Overall, the Spartans have earned 20 individual bids to the NCAA Championships. 

The Michigan State Spartan Football Spring Green and White Game (Spring Showcase) will be held at the High Cathedral of the Spartan Nation, Spartan Stadium, on April 20, 2024, at 2 p.m.

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