Feb. 16, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State senior Casey Sandy (Brampton, Ont.) has been honored as Big Ten Gymnast of the Week for the third time this season and for the ninth time in his career, the conference office announced on Monday. The reigning NCAA all-around champion was selected for his standout efforts in the No. 4 Nittany Lions' loss to No. 3 Illinois on Saturday evening in Champaign.
By earning a ninth career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor, Sandy extends a conference record he broke earlier this month when he was recognized for winning a single meet career best five individual titles versus Minnesota. With three conference awards this season, the seven-time All-American is one shy of tying a personal single season high he established last year.
Sandy's impressive accomplishments have also garnered him attention outside of the gymnastics world, as earlier in the week, he was selected as the 2008 Ken Giles Award winner, an honor presented annually to the amateur athlete of the year by The Brampton Guardian newspaper in his hometown of Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
Versus Illinois, Sandy captured all four of Penn State's individual titles, placing first in the floor exercise (15.150), still rings (14.550), vault (15.900), and parallel bars (14.400) on his way to claiming his fourth all-around crown of the season.
A leading candidate for the 2009 Nissen-Emery Award, Sandy has fashioned one of the greatest careers in the storied history of Penn State men's gymnastics. In 38 career meets, he has earned a remarkable 132 top three finishes and secured 76 title wins.
After a rare week off, Sandy and the Nittany Lions will host their first home meet in more than a month when Big Ten preseason favorite, No. 8-ranked Ohio State visits Rec Hall for a key conference dual meet on Sat., Feb. 28. First rotation is set to begin at 2 p.m. In 2008, Penn State used a season-high score of 360.550 to defeat the Buckeyes at St. John Arena in Columbus.