July 28, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Six members of the Penn State men's gymnastics team have been honored as All-America Scholar Athletes by the College Gymnastics Association. Logan Wyman (Phoenix, Md.), Miguel Pineda (Galloway, Ohio), Matt Greenfield (Villanova, Pa.), Allen Harris (Lancaster, Pa.), Noam Shaham (Kfar Saba, Israel) earned first team accolades while Josh Borromeo (Littlestown, Pa.) was recognized on the second team.
First team honorees attained at least a 3.50 while second teamers achieved between a 3.2 and 3.499. As a team, Penn State placed ninth overall in the NCAA with a grade point average of 3.132.
Logan Wyman, a redshirt freshman in 2009, highlighted Penn State's list of All-America Scholar Athletes, earning a 4.0 grade point average, one of just six gymnasts nationwide to achieve the mark of academic excellence. He competed in every meet in 2009, specializing in the pommel horse and still rings. Wyman is a criminal justice/law major who intends to pursue a career as a lawyer.
Miguel Pineda (3.90-3.99 GPA), the standard bearer for Penn State's next generation of great gymnasts, enjoyed a stellar freshman season that was marred only by a season-ending hand injury just prior to the 2009 Big Ten Championships. During the regular season, he won six rings titles and recorded 16 top three finishes. Pineda was recognized as Big Ten Gymnast of the Week on March 9 after earning seven top three finishes, including winning two still rings titles and the first all-around crown of his career, while competing in the all-around twice in the span of three days in a match-up with Temple and a tri-meet versus William & Mary and Navy.
In 2009, Matt Greenfield's (3.60-3.69 GPA) season was slowed by an ankle injury but he still managed to contribute on the high bar in 12 meets, attaining three top three finishes, including his first ever title in a season-opening win over Army. Before suffering the injury, he used career-high scores to placed second in the floor exercise versus Minnesota (14.900) and second in the vault against Michigan (15.650).
As a junior, Allen Harris (3.50-3.59 GPA) posted his most productive season as a Nittany Lion in 2009, becoming a cornerstone of the Penn State line-up in the floor exercise, vault, and parallel bars. Competing in every meet, he won four titles while achieving nine top three finishes. Harris' top performance came in a tri-meet with William & Mary and Navy when he turned in a career-best and team season-high score of 15.450 to claim first place in the floor exercise.
Noam Shaham (3.50-3.59 GPA) emerged over the course of the 2009 season as one of Penn State's most consistent and clutch performers. The Kfar Saba, Israel native recorded top three finishes in four different events (floor exercise, rings, vault, high bar) and placed second and third in the all-around two times. In total, he earned 20 top three finishes, won one title in the high bar, and set career highs in four events plus the all-around in 2009. Shaham tied with Nissen-Emery Award winner Casey Sandy (Brampton, Ont.) for the team season high score in the vault (15.950) and owned Penn State's second best score in the high bar last season, a 15.050.
Josh Borromeo (3.30-3.39 GPA), Penn State's senior captain for the 2009 season, served as one of the team's top still rings competitors. Despite being forced to lead from the sidelines through the season's first three weeks while recuperating from a biceps strain, the preseason All-Big Ten selection returned to post the Nittany Lions' top two scores in the rings, a 15.250 versus Oklahoma and a 15.150 at the National Collegiate Championships. Borromeo was named Penn State's recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, an honor that is given to the one gymnast from each team in the conference who best reflects the principles of sportsmanship and fair play established by the Big Ten.