Jan. 16, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - For the third time in his career, junior Casey Sandy (Brampton, Ont.) has been named Big Ten Men's Gymnast of the Week, the conference office announced on Wednesday. The 2007 All-American won the award for standout performances provided in the defending national champion Nittany Lions' resounding 358.500-333.600 victory over No. 12 Army last weekend at Rec Hall.
Sandy previously was honored as Big Ten Gymnast of the Week twice as a freshman, winning it for his efforts in two of his first three collegiate meets.
Versus the Black Knights, Sandy was dominant, capturing titles in the floor exercise (15.850), parallel bars (15.600), and high bar (14.900) en route to a win in the all-around (90.750). His scores in the floor exercise, parallel bars, and all-around were the highest in the nation for the season's opening weekend. Following the meet, Sandy was presented with the Gene Wettstone Award, an honor bestowed upon the most outstanding gymnast at each home meet.
Penn State will be back in action this Saturday evening (Jan. 19) when it travels to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on Big Ten rival and sixth-ranked Michigan in a 7 p.m. dual meet at Cliff Keen Arena. The Nittany Lions will be looking to avenge last season's 216.750-215.800 home loss to the Wolverines; just one of two setbacks suffered by PSU in 2007. Penn State possesses a 16-14 record in its all-time series with Michigan. The conference clash will be aired tape delay by the Big Ten Network on Sat., Jan. 26 at 3 p.m.