Sept. 12, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
The Penn State women's gymnastics team, who ended last season ranked 16th in the country, will host five home meets, including the NCAA Regional Championships in April, and face perennial powers both at home and on the road during the 2008 season.
"We are very excited about our schedule this year," said head coach Steve Shephard, who begins his 16th season at the helm of the Nittany Lion program. "We meet some of the top teams in the nation, including Alabama and Nebraska who both qualified for the NCAA Championships last year. We are also continuing our relationship with Michigan and we are thrilled to meet them at home this year. We are also very proud to be hosting the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships on April 12. The schedule should prepare our team to make a run at qualifying for the NCAA Championships in April at the University of Georgia."
The upcoming slate features 10 meetings with teams that finished in the top 25 in the nation last year, including two contests with Michigan (No. 11) and one each with Nebraska (No. 6), Alabama (No. 9), Arkansas (No. 15) Michigan State (No. 17), West Virginia (No. 18), Ohio State (No. 19), Illinois (No. 20), Arizona State (No. 21) and North Carolina State (No. 24).
Penn State begins the season on the road at Pittsburgh with Kent State on Friday, Jan. 11 before returning to Rec Hall to open the home slate on Saturday, Jan. 19 against Michigan. Penn State travels to Arkansas on Friday, Jan. 25 and takes on West Virginia on Feb. 2 at Rec Hall in a meet that is also a double-dual with the Nittany Lion men's team. Penn State then takes to the road for three consecutive weekends, traveling to New Hampshire with Yale and Rhode Island on Feb. 9, taking on NC State on Feb. 16 and facing Ohio State on Feb. 24. The Nittany Lions host Bowling Green, George Washington and SUNY-Cortland on March 1 and then travel to Arizona State and Alabama, respectively, on March 7 and 14. The final regular-season home meet of the year will be another quad meet, this one with Maryland, Rutgers and Nebraska on March 21.
The University of Michigan will be the site of the 2008 Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships on Saturday, March 29 at 2:15 p.m., competing against Michigan State, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State and Illinois in search of their first conference crown.
Penn State will be the site of one of the six NCAA Regional Championships on Saturday, April 12. Tickets for the event are $7 for adults and $4 for youth and students. For groups of 10 or more of any age, tickets are just $4 per person. For more information please call 814-863-1000.
The NCAA National Championships will be held April 24-26 on the campus of the University of Georgia.
For more information on the Penn State women's gymnastics team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com.