April 7, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The NCAA Men's Gymnastics Committee announced on Wednesday the field for the 2010 National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics Championships, scheduled for April 15-17 on the host campus of the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. The 68th annual event will be held at the home of the Black Knights, Christl Arena.
The NCAA's top 12 teams based on their final national qualifying average were eligible to compete, including Penn State, which finished the season ranked No. 8 for the second consecutive year. Also qualifying are Big Ten teams Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio State in addition to defending national champion Stanford, California, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Illinois-Chicago, and Temple.
Also announced were the assignments for the national qualifier sessions on Thurs., April 15. Penn State, along with Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Ohio State, Stanford, and Temple will compete in Session I at 1 p.m. while California, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Oklahoma will comprise the Session II field, set to begin at 7 p.m.
The top three teams from each qualifier will then advance to contend for the national championship at 7 p.m. on Fri., April 16. The individual all-around champion will also be crowned that evening. The following night, on Sat., April 17, the individual event finals will be held at 7 p.m., with six national titles and All-American honors at stake.
Scoring updates will be provided after each rotation. Find a link on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.
Penn State is coming off a third-place finish at last weekend's Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio. Senior Nick Virbitsky (Harrisburg, Pa.) and sophomore Miguel Pineda (Galloway, Ohio) medaled for the Nittany Lions, placing second in the floor exercise and third in the still rings, respectively. Also, Felix Aronovich (Kiryat Bialik, Israel) was named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year, becoming just the second Nittany Lion to receive the honor and the first since Mike Dutka in 1997.
Penn State has won an NCAA record 12 team championships, last capturing the national crown in 2007 at home in Rec Hall, and 51 individual titles.