Jan. 23, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - For the second consecutive week, junior Casey Sandy (Brampton, Ont.) has been honored as Big Ten Men's Gymnast of the Week, the conference office announced on Wednesday morning. The 2007 All-American claimed the award for his standout efforts in Penn State's narrow road loss to Michigan last weekend.
For Sandy, the conference honor is the fourth of his career. He was also named Big Ten Men's Gymnast of the Week a week ago for his performance in the Nittany Lions' season opening win over Army. Sandy was previously was honored by the conference twice as a freshman, winning it for his efforts in two of his first three collegiate meets.
Against the Wolverines, Sandy overcame a hostile environment to capture titles outright in the pommel horse (15.150) and parallel bars (15.350) while sharing the still rings crown (15.300), giving him six individual event wins through the season's first two weeks. Though uncontested, Sandy took the all-around for the second straight week, posting the highest score in the nation thus far this year, a 91.550. He also placed second in the floor exercise and vault against Michigan.
With the national individual rankings being first released on Tuesday, Sandy appeared as the nation's No. 1 ranked competitor in the floor exercise (15.625), parallel bars (15.425), and all-around (91.125). He is ranked second in the still rings (15.150) and fourth in the pommel horse (14.675) and high bar (14.750).
Defending national champion Penn State, the current No. 1 team in the nation, hosts No. 9 Temple in a dual meet scheduled for Sat., Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions own a 71-11 record in its all-time series with the Owls, including wins at the Temple Invitational and West Point Open in 2007. Penn State has not lost to Temple since 1995.