Jan. 11, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 7-ranked Penn State men's gymnastics team travels for the first time in 2011 this weekend, visiting the campus of the United States Military Academy in pursuit of its 13th-straight title at the annual West Point Open. The meet will be held on Fri.-Sat., Jan. 14-15 at the home of the Black Knights, Christl Arena.
The team competition at the 2011 West Point Open is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. with the individual events finals set for Saturday, also at 7 p.m. The top eight finishers from each of Friday night's events advance to vie for individual honors on Saturday evening.
The Nittany Lions will vie with host Army, Temple, Navy, and Springfield College and club teams Brockport and M.I.T. for the 2011 crown.
Penn State won all six events as a team and five individually to earn a commanding season opening 343.300-319.100 victory over Army last weekend at Rec Hall. Sophomore Scott Rosenthal (Clearfield, Pa.) placed first in the still rings with a career high score of 15.400 to earn his first ever Gene Wettstone Award and Big Ten Gymnast of the Week accolade. Sophomore Parker Raque (Louisville, Ky.) claimed the vault title (15.800) and, competing for the first time in the all-around, won it with a score of 83.100. Senior Warren Yang (Nepean, Ont.) (floor exercise), junior Miguel Pineda (Galloway, Ohio) (parallel bars), and sophomore Felix Aronovich (Kiryat Bialik, Israel) (pommel horse) also secured individual event titles.
At the 2010 West Point Open, the Nittany Lions captured their 12th consecutive team crown, winning four events as a team and five individually. Five Nittany Lions, including Aronovich (pommel horse), Pineda (still rings), and Matt Albrecht (Guelph, Ont.) (parallel bars), won titles on day two of the competition.
The Nittany Lions open Big Ten competition next weekend, hosting defending national champion and preseason No. 2-ranked Michigan on Sat., Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. at Rec Hall. A year ago, Penn State fell to the Wolverines, 355.650-344.750, in Ann Arbor. The meet will also feature the Nittany Lion women's gymnastics team meeting New Hampshire.