Michigan at Michigan State

Recap

The Big Storyline: A combination of Michigan’s mistakes and Michigan State coming ready to play lead to the Spartans coming out on top of their in-state rival Wolverines. Michigan scored its first score in the 196s this season, and Michigan State scored its first 197.

Implications: This meet tells us that Michigan State’s historic 2022 season wasn’t a fluke, and the Spartans are back and hungry for more. As for the Big Ten standings, they look mostly the same. Michigan remains in first and Michigan State will stay in third behind Ohio State. 

Records: This is the first time the Spartans have beaten the Wolverines since 2007. It was also a sell-out for Michigan State.

 Preview

Current Rankings: No. 3 Michigan at No. 14 Michigan State

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: For the first time in a long time this in-state rivalry is going to look more like a fair fight. The Wolverines far outpace the Spartans overall, but individuals on the Michigan State roster can fight for event titles and having such stiff competition at home might just help the Spartans take the next step to approach the 197 mark. For Michigan, this one is about securing a Big Ten win—the conference championship is seeded by in-conference win/loss records, and this week marks the first of Big Ten conference competition—and nabbing at least a high 197 to stash away for its NQS later in the year.

You Can Fast Forward, but not Through This: Don’t take your eyes off of anyone in the Michigan vault lineup. Every member of the top six is capable of sticking her one and a half. The Spartans’ Gabrielle Stephen was perfect on her full in 2022 as well. Michigan State struggled on bars last week; look for Olivia Zsarmani and Delanie Harkness to lead the lineup to redemption there. For Michigan, beam is the weak spot. Natalie Wojcik has been near-perfect, but the rest of the lineup has failed to get out of the 9.8s so far. That’ll be the focus for the Wolverines here.