Jan. 23, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 22 Penn State women's gymnastics team opened its home slate with a first place finish in a quad meet with Cornell, Iowa and Yale. The Nittany Lions scored a 195.325 for top honors, Iowa took second with a score of 192.175, Yale finished third with a score of 186.125 and Cornell placed fourth with a 185.750.
Penn State opened the meet on vault where the team tied the program's all-time high score with a 49.500. The Lions scored a 49.100 on the uneven bars, a 47.825 on beam and closed out the meet on floor with a team score of 48.900.
Senior Brandi Personett (Katy, Texas) was the Ann Carr award winner after scoring the first 10.0 on vault since Katie Rowland in 2003 and taking the all-around title with a score of 39.575. Sophomore Whitney Bencsko (Pompton Plains, N.J.) also competed in the all-around and finished second with a 38.675.
Five Nittany Lions finished in the top five on vault, with Personett leading the way with a 10.0. There was a three-way tie for second between seniors Casey Rohrbaugh (Spring Grove, Pa.) and Rosie Smith (Waterford, Pa.) and Bencsko. Each member of the trio scored a 9.900 on the event. Junior Danielle Hover (Hamburg, N.Y.) finished fifth with a 9.800. Freshman Sharaya Musser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished tied for seventh scoring a 9.775 to round out the PSU competitors.
Penn State moved to the uneven bars for the second rotation. Sophomore Natalie Ettl (Waukesha, Wis.) earned the title with a career-high 9.900. Senior Alexandra Brockway (Macungie, Pa.) finished second with a 9.875 and Musser took third with a 9.825. Personett placed fifth on bars with a 9.800 and Smith tied for seventh place with a 9.700.
The Nittany Lions took the top three spots on beam. Personett won the event with a 9.875, while Bencsko scored a 9.750 for second place and Rohrbaugh posted a 9.725 for third. Hover finished 11th with a 9.275 and sophomore Daryl Konsevick (Rutherford, N.J.) placed 13th with a 9.200.
PSU closed out the quad meet on floor and again claimed the top three spots on the event. Personett took the title with 9.900, freshman Madison Merriam (Gaithersburg, Md.) placed second with a 9.825 and Bencsko took third scoring a 9.800. Konsevick rounded out Penn State's top performers with a fifth place score of 9.750. Senior Allie Southard (Nanuet, N.Y.) placed 10th with a 9.625 and Rohrbaugh posted a 9.175 for 18th.
What's Next
The Nittany Lions are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 30 when they host Minnesota and Alabama at Rec Hall. Action is set for 7 p.m. The Big Ten Network will tape the meet and broadcast it on Feb. 5 at 6 p.m.