Jan. 31, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 6 Penn State men's gymnastics teams used a youth movement to down William & Mary on Sunday afternoon at Rec Hall, as 24 of the Nittany Lions' 36 routines were performed by freshmen in the 341.450-321.400 victory.
Penn State won all six events, both as a team and individually, but struggled with consistency. The Lions established a season high in the high bar (55.350) but posted a season low in the vault (60.100). Their team total in the pommel horse (54.600) was a full three points below its season high and their team score in the parallel bars (55.650) was just one-tenth above its season low.
Leading the way for Penn State and for the freshman class was Parker Raque (Louisville, Ky.), who claimed the first two titles of his career, winning at least a share of the floor exercise (14.900) and still rings (14.700). Raque set personal bests in both events en route to earning the Gene Wettstone Award, an honor presented each home meet to the most outstanding gymnast.
Freshman Mackenzie Dow (Cranford, N.J.) secured his first career pommel horse title in the Nittany Lions' second consecutive home win, scoring a 14.100. He also claimed his third top three finish in the vault this season, placed second with a score of 15.400.
Nick Grant (Butler, Pa.) built on the fast start to his freshman season by taking the top spot in the vault, tying a personal high with a 15.800 effort. The vault title was his third of the season.
The reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, Felix Aronovich (Kiryat Bialik, Israel), tied Raque for a share of his first career still rings title and finished in second in his signature event, the pommel horse (14.000).
Penn State's top veteran performances were contributed by senior Nick Virbitsky (Harrisburg, Pa.) and sophomore Miguel Pineda (Galloway, Ohio), who captured crowns in the high bar and parallel bars, respectively. Virbitsky won the high bar with a team season high mark of 14.600 while Pineda secured his first parallel bars title of the year with a 14.050. Pineda also placed third in the still rings and the pommel horse.
Senior Matt Greenfield (Villanova, Pa.) also played a part in the win, placing second in the high bar and third in the floor exercise.
Next weekend, a Penn State contingent made-up of seniors Nick Virbitsky (Harrisburg, Pa.) and Matt Greenfield (Villanova, Pa.), freshman Scott Rosenthal (Clearfield, Pa.), assistant coach Kevin Tan, and volunteer assistant coach Vladi Klurman will travel to Las Vegas, Nev. to compete individually in the prestigious Winter Cup Challenge on Feb. 4 and 6. Virbitsky is returning to the Winter Cup for the first time since his freshman season of 2007 when he placed seventh in the vault in the preliminaries. Greenfield and Rosenthal will be competing in the event for the first time. Tan is a three-time Winter Cup still rings champion but missed last season's event while recuperating from shoulder surgery. For Klurman, this year will be his fourth appearance at the Winter Cup. In 2009, he advanced to the finals but a shoulder injury suffered during his parallel bars routine prevented him from competing on day two.
The remaining Nittany Lions will begin preparations for an upcoming dual meet with conference rival Illinois, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sat., Feb. 20 in Rec Hall. Penn State posted its lowest score of the season against the Illini a year ago, suffering a 345.500-339.800 setback in a dual meet in Champaign, Ill. The Nittany Lions won three of six events as a team while Casey Sandy captured all four of Penn State's individual titles, placing first in the floor exercise, still rings, vault, and parallel bars on his way to claiming his fourth all-around crown of the season.