March 1, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State all-arounder Nick Grant (Butler, Pa.) has been honored as Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Freshman of the Week for the second time this season, the conference announced on Monday. Grant, who also earned the award on Jan. 18, was recognized for his standout performance versus Ohio State last weekend.
The Nittany Lions have claimed a total of four conference freshman of the week accolades this season after Felix Aronovich (Kiryat Bialik, Israel) won on Jan. 11 and Jan. 25.
Grant shined in Penn State's road dual with the Buckeyes, winning his fourth floor exercise and vault titles of the season. His mark of 15.100 in the floor exercise helped the Nittany Lions win the event and was just .100 short of a career high. In the vault, Grant's score of 15.850 was a career best and tied the Penn State high for the 2010 season. Grant has a total of nine top three finishes combined in the floor exercise and vault this season.
This weekend, Grant and the Nittany Lions host a 7 p.m. tri-meet that will feature match-ups with No. 6 Minnesota and No. 11 Temple on Sat., March 6 at Rec Hall. Penn State has dominated the head-to-head series with Minnesota, compiling a 10-2 record, but fell to the Golden Gophers a year ago in Minneapolis, 345.850-344.500. The Nittany Lions have more wins against Temple, 74, than any other opponent in program history, including two last season.