MSU gymnastics 'in a good place' after earning bid to NCAA Gainesville Regional

When Mike Rowe was in his first season as an assistant coach for Michigan State gymnastics, he recalled the program’s main desire was to be among the nation’s top 36 teams to earn a spot in the NCAA postseason.  

Now, 10 years later, a postseason berth is an expectation for the Spartans — not a goal.

After winning both the Big Ten regular-season and postseason titles, Michigan State punched its ticket to its third straight NCAA regionals. The Spartans learned on Monday that they’ll be heading to Florida next week to compete in the NCAA Gainesville Regional. 

Rowe, who recently was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for a third straight season, said he wasn’t worried about where Michigan State was headed as the team watched the announcement together in the Jenison Field House. But now that the field is set, Rowe said he likes Michigan State’s placement. 

“I feel good about it,” Rowe told reporters. “Looking at the pairings…I think we’re in a good place.” 

Michigan State has never advanced beyond regionals. Last season, the Spartans missed out after eventual NCAA runner-up Florida narrowly beat them by 0.15 points. 

Michigan State will likely once again have to go toe-to-toe with Florida if it wants to make it out of the first weekend. Despite the history, Rowe said Michigan State is “very OK” with Florida being in the same region. 

“This team, this year, has risen to the occasion when we go against somebody who’s better than us,” Rowe said. “We bring our A-game when we're competing against somebody that’s ranked higher. I think that’s good. I think that says a lot about their grit, their tenacity and everything like that, but that’s how we got to where we are.”

Each of the four regionals scattered across the country has two sessions, with the top two teams from each dual advancing to the regional finals. The two highest team all-around scores from the regional finals will advance to Fort Worth, Texas, for the championship weekend. 

Michigan State, a No. 3 seed in its regional and No. 12 overall, will be pitted against second-seeded Utah as well as Towson and Maryland in the second round on April 5. Meanwhile, the later session will feature top-seeded Florida, No. 4 seed Missouri, Georgia and the winner of the play-in meet between Iowa State and Clemson. 

The Gainesville Regional Final is scheduled for April 7. 

Michigan State has earned two all-around scores above 198.000 this season, including on March 9 when the team posted the program’s second-best mark all-time with a 198.150. 

Michigan State’s overall performance this season, capped off by dominating the Big Ten, gives the team confidence moving forward.

“There’s a lot of hard teams at every single regional and we’re one of those hard teams, too,” junior Gabrielle Stephen said. "So it’s just about going back in the gym and putting in the work that we’ve been doing these past few days and throughout the whole year and kind of keep that momentum moving and it’s definitely doable for us.

"We’re not going to stop now.”

mkenney@detroitnews.com

@madkenney