Michigan State's Adam Nightingale: 'We will be Spartan Strong'
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State’s athletic department will take its next steps toward a return to regularly-scheduled activities today, including in-state events in Ann Arbor and Mount Pleasant, and out-of-state competition in North Carolina, Arizona and Wisconsin.
Michigan State’s indoor track teams will compete in the Silverston Invitational today (Friday) in Ann Arbor.
The Spartan wrestling team will have a dual meet at Central Michigan today, beginning at 7 p.m. (ESPN3).
Michigan State’s baseball team will open its season against Michigan today at 4 p.m. in Phoenix at the MLB Desert Invitational.
The Spartan softball team (3-2) will play at Elon in Elon, N.C., at 4:30 p.m. as part of the Elon Phoenix Invitational.
Michigan State’s hockey team (15-15-2 overall and 9-11-2 in the Big Ten) will play at Wisconsin at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, and at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.
These events come more than three days after Monday’s tragic shootings resulted in the deaths of three Michigan State students and the hospitalization of five others.
Michigan State’s hockey team left East Lansing and traveled to Wisconsin on Wednesday, marking the earliest that a Spartan athletic team was back on the road in advance of returning to competition.
Spartan hockey coach Adam Nightingale released the following statement on Friday afternoon ahead of tonight’s return to competition:
“This has been an incredibly difficult week for our Spartan family,” Nightingale said. “Our team had a meeting with our Athletic Director Alan Haller on Tuesday, where we were able to review the options for the weekend and educate our players on the mental health resources available to them. Our team’s decision was to proceed with our series at Wisconsin, and we are thankful for all the resources available to us from the athletic department administration. Being together has allowed us to support one another, and when we pull on our jerseys this weekend, we will do it with immense pride and love for Michigan State University and our community. We will be Spartan Strong.”
