Feb. 27, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The defending Big Ten Champion Penn State men's gymnastics team, ranked No. 7 in the nation, will host 2009 Big Ten preseason favorite, No. 8 Ohio State, in a key conference dual meet scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sat., Feb. 28 at Rec Hall. The home competition is the Nittany Lions' first in more than a month, dating back to their defeat of rival Michigan in a tightly contested dual on Jan. 24.
Two weeks ago, Penn State suffered its second consecutive loss to a Big Ten opponent, falling to Illinois in Champaign, 345.500-339.800 on Feb.14. The Nittany Lions' outing was highlighted by a season-high score of 62.750 in the vault but diminished by season-low team totals in the pommel horse (52.600) and parallel bars (53.400).
Penn State won three of six events as a team while senior Casey Sandy (Brampton, Ont.) captured all four of Penn State's individual titles. The 2008 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year placed 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 and to securing his third Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor of the year and conference-record ninth of his career.
Heading into its sixth meet of the season, Penn State continues to maintain a prominent position in both the team and individual national rankings. The Nittany Lions, as a team, are ranked among the top nine in the nation in each event and hold the No. 3 spot in the floor exercise (59.217) and vault (62.700) and No. 4 in the high bar (57.450). Individually, six different Nittany Lions hold 13 top 20 national rankings, led by Casey Sandy who is ranked in the top six in five of six events and is the nation's No. 1 all-arounder.
Led by 12-year head coach Miles Avery, Ohio State has averaged a team score of 345.833 through three meets. In their last outing, the Buckeyes used a season-high team total of 350.800 to defeat Illinois-Chicago (333.050). Depth is OSU's strength, as six different competitors hold the team's top individual event for the season, including Eddie Hay (floor exercise), Ty Echard (pommel horse), Brandon Wynn and Philip Onorato (tie, still rings), Pejman Ebrahimi (vault), Jake Bateman (parallel bars), and Justin Myers (high bar). As a team, Ohio State is ranked in the top five nationally in two events, holding the No. 2 spot in the rings with a 59.400 average and the No. 4 position on vault (62.083).
Penn State has compiled a 24-24 record in its all-time regular season series with Ohio State. The Nittany Lions have won the last two meetings, including last season's 360.550-353.050 victory in Columbus. Individually, PSU won three of six events and Casey Sandy captured his fifth all-around crown of the year. He also won the high bar and finished second in the floor exercise and parallel bars.
Fans can follow all of the action of the Penn State-Ohio State dual on the Internet with live scoring updates or with a live video webcast from Rec Hall. Find links on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.
The Nittany Lions will be in action twice next weekend with a rare road dual meet doubleheader on the schedule. On, Fri., March 6, Penn State will face No. 10 Temple at 7 p.m. at the Owls' McGonigle Hall in Philadelphia. From there, the Lions will travel south to Williamsburg, Va. for a 2 p.m. match-up with No. 14 William & Mary on Sun., March 8. Penn State has more wins against Temple than any other opponent in program history (72) and owns a perfect 14-0 record in its all-time series with William & Mary.