March 29, 2010
University Park Regional Championship Central
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State is proud to be on of six hosts for the 2010 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Regional Championships scheduled for Saturday, April 10 at 6 p.m. ET. The No. 14 Nittany Lions, making their 36th Regional Championship appearance welcome No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 11 LSU, No. 33 Maryland, No. 34 Ohio State and No. 35 New Hampshire to Rec Hall.
The individual all-around competitors not on a qualifying team include Pittsburgh's Alicia Talucci and Megan Biros, Lorraine Galow and Miranda Der of Bridgeport and Yale's Bridgette Kivisto, with Jenna Zito of Rutgers as the alternate. The individual event specialists not on a qualifying team are Dani Bryan (Pittsburgh/Vault), Jennifer Liberato (Pittsburgh/Uneven bars), Emily Repko (Bridgeport/Beam) and Lauren Gildemeyer (Brockport/Floor).
The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships in Gainesville, Fla. on April 22-24 hosted by the University of Florida. The event winners at the regional championships will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or the all-around qualifiers.
Tickets are on sale now for the NCAA Regional Championship at Penn State. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for youth and students and groups of 20 or more. Tickets will also be on sale at the door the day of the event. For additional ticket information, please call 814-865-5555.
The Nittany Lions will open the 2010 Regional Championships on vault. Following a bye, the team will move to bars and beam. After a bye in the fifth rotation, Penn State will close out the meet on floor.
On March 27, the Nittany Lions earned a second place finish at the Big Ten Championships hosted by Ohio State. Senior Brandi Personett (Katy, Texas), who was named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year for the second straight year and earned First Team All-Big Ten accolades, won the all-around title and defended her floor title for the third consecutive season. Freshman Sharaya Musser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Big Ten First Team. Sophomore Natalie Ettl (Waukesha, Wis.) earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors and took top honors on the uneven bars.