April 3, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Seven Nittany Lions, including four freshmen, competed in the individual event finals of the 2010 Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships on Saturday evening at host Ohio State's St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Senior Nick Virbitsky (Harrisburg, Pa.) earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors, contributing Penn State's top showing by placing second in the floor exercise with a score of 15.375.
Year-end conference awards were also announced at the conclusion of the event with Felix Aronovich (Kiryat Bialik, Israel) being recognized as Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year, becoming Penn State's first winner of the award since Mike Dutka in 1997. Aronovich was spectacular in his rookie season, claiming 13 top three finishes, including six titles, and earning Big Freshman of the Week honors twice. In the Big Ten team finals on Friday evening, Aronovich finished seventh in the all-around with a season-high score of 84.800. He shared the 2010 award with Illinois' Yoshi Mori.
Three Nittany Lions, sophomore Miguel Pineda (Galloway, Ohio), senior Noam Shaham (Kfar Saba, Israel), and freshman Scott Rosenthal (Clearfield, Pa.), competed in the individual finals of the still rings. Pineda led PSU, tying for third with a score of 15.125 while Shaham finished tied for seventh (14.750) and Rosenthal placed 10th (14.250).
Freshmen Tony Beck (Catasauqua, Pa.) and Nick Grant (Butler, Pa.) had solid performances in their first Big Ten Championships, placing fourth in the parallel bars and fifth in the vault, respectively.
Noam Shaham and junior Matt Albrecht (Guelph, Ont.) competed in the high bar finals with Shaham placing in a tie for seventh (14.725) and Albrecht finishing 10th (13.525).
In less than two weeks, the Nittany Lions will seek their NCAA-record 13th national title when they travel to West Point, N.Y. for the 2010 National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics Championships. From April 15-17, the nation's elite collegiate gymnastics competitors will descend upon Christl Arena on the campus of the United States Military Academy to vie for team and individual glory. The competition begins on Thurs., April 15 with two qualifying sessions, scheduled for 1 and 7 p.m. The top three teams from each qualifier then advance to vie for the national championship at 7 p.m. on Fri., April 16. The nation's top all-around performer will also be crowned that evening. On Sat., April 17, the individual event finals will be held at 7 p.m., with six national titles and All-American status at stake.