April 12, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Two members of the Penn State women's gymnastics team are set to represent the Nittany Lions at the 2010 NCAA National Championships on April 22-24 at the University of Florida. Senior Brandi Personett (Katy, Texas) and freshman Sharaya Musser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) both qualified as individual all-around competitors. The pair finished first and second, respectively, in the all-around at the NCAA University Park Regional Championships on April 10 at Rec Hall.
Musser will compete in the first session of the NCAA Championships, slated for Thursday, April 22 at 1 p.m. in Florida's Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Musser, who will compete with Utah, will open the meet on floor before moving on to vault in rotation two. After a bye in the third rotation, Musser will head to bars and then beam. Musser and Utah will have a bye to close out the meet.
Personett will compete with the hosting Gators in the second session at 7 p.m. on April 22. After a bye during rotation one, Personett will tackle bars and beam before a bye in rotation four. She will head to floor for the fifth rotation and close out the session on vault.
Personett, a four-time First Team All-Big Ten honoree, scored a 39.550 in the all-around on April 10. It was the top regional all-around score among the individual qualifiers. A First Team All-Big Ten honoree in her first season of collegiate competition, Musser scored a 39.200 in the all-around at regionals, which ranked tied for eighth among the 12 qualifiers.
The women's gymnastics championships consist of 12 teams and 12 all-around competitors (who are not on a qualifying team) and individual event specialists. The top two teams and the top two all-arounders from each of the six regionals received automatic berths to the national championships.
The top three teams from each semifinal will advance to the Super Six competition on Friday, April 23 at 6 p.m. The top four individuals from each session in each event (plus ties) from the preliminary team and all-around competition will compete in the individual-event competition Saturday, April 24 at 6 p.m.