| Sophomore Derek Helsby won the pommel horse and the all-around titles in Penn State's 216.800-216.750 victory over Stanford on Sunday evening at the BJC. |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; February 22, 2006 - For his part in Penn State's dramatic victory over No. 4 Stanford on Sun., Feb. 19, Derek Helsby (Orlando, Fla.) was named Big Ten Men's Co-Gymnast of the Week by the conference office today. The sophomore all-arounder shares the honor with Ohio State's Willie Ito. The two standouts will compete head-to-head this weekend in Columbus, Ohio in a double dual meet with the Penn State and Ohio State women's teams. The league honor is the first of Helsby's career and the third for Penn State this season.
Versus the Cardinal, Helsby stepped up in the absence of freshman Casey Sandy, winning the pommel horse and the all-around. His pommel horse score of 9.400 was a season high, earning him the third title of his career in the event and allowing Penn State to maintain its No. 1 national ranking on the apparatus. Helsby's all-around score of 53.500 secured him his first all-around victory of the season and his third as a Nittany Lion. He also contributed a second place finish on the parallel bars (9.300) and a third on the high bar (9.350), helping Penn State to post the highest total score of any team in the nation thus far this season (216.800).
After taking on Ohio State on Sat., Feb. 25 at 7:00 p.m., Penn State returns to University Park next week to take on No. 10 William & Mary in its final home meet of the 2006 season. The Nittany Lions and the Tribe will take center stage at Rec Hall on Sat., March 4 at 7:00 p.m. A special ceremony honoring the career of legendary Penn State men's gymnastics coach Gene Wettstone is scheduled. One week later, Penn State will travel coast-to-coast, making the trip to Berkeley, Calif. to compete against No. 8 Cal in the Lions' final dual meet before the Big Ten Championships at Iowa on March 24 and 25.