Lansing Sun

Michigan State University gymnasts Sage Kellerman and Nikki Smith have been recognized with Big Ten weekly awards, as announced by the conference on Tuesday. Kellerman was named Specialist of the Week, while Smith earned Gymnast of the Week honors.

This is the second time this season that both athletes have received these accolades. For Smith, it marks her fourth career Gymnast of the Week award. Kellerman's recognition as Specialist of the Week is her fifth in her career.

Kellerman competed in vault and bars during MSU's recent competition against UCLA, where they narrowly lost 197.300 to 197.200. She achieved a season-high score of 9.925 on bars to win outright and scored 9.950 on vault, sharing the title with Smith and teammate Olivia Zsarmani. Nationally, Kellerman ranks fourth on vault with an average score of 9.900 and eleventh on bars with a 9.890 average.

Smith secured her third all-around title at UCLA with a total score of 39.425, including scores of 9.950 on vault, 9.700 on bars, 9.875 on beam, and 9.900 on floor exercises. Her performance has earned her the top national ranking in vault through five weeks of the season with an average score of 9.925 and placed her sixteenth nationally in all-around standings (39.395). This week she shares the Gymnast of the Week award with Jordan Chiles from UCLA.

Both athletes contributed to Michigan State achieving a program-high team score of 49.600 on vault at UCLA—the highest team score for that event this season nationwide.

Additionally, Illinois' Chloe Cho was named Freshman of the Week by the conference.

Michigan State will return home for their next meet against No.16 Minnesota this Saturday at Jenison Field House at 7 p.m., which will be available for streaming on B1G+.