Jan. 22, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - On the strength of stellar performances in the still rings and vault, the No. 5 Penn State men's gymnastics team knocked off defending national champion Michigan, 350.400-346.900, on Saturday evening. Over 2,200 fans packed Rec Hall to witness the Nittany Lions post their highest score of the season in their Big Ten opener and see the Penn State women's squad down visiting New Hampshire as part of the first double dual of 2011.
Standout efforts from sophomore Scott Rosenthal (Clearfield, Pa.) (15.400) and junior Miguel Pineda (Galloway, Ohio) (15.300) helped Penn State win the still rings in dominating fashion (60.200-57.500) and gain the overall lead, and, combined with a 1-2-3 sweep in the vault, proved be the difference in the dual of conference rivals.
Sophomore Mackenzie Dow (Cranford, N.J.) provided the performance of the evening, nailing a double front vault, to earn a career and team season high score of 16.000 from the judges and place first in the event. Redshirt junior Warren Yang (Nepean, Ont.) (15.900) and sophomore Parker Raque (Louisville, Ky.) (15.600) finished in second and third, respectively, to lift Penn State to the event victory (62.700-61.600).
Penn State also won the floor exercise, getting a first place effort of 14.800 from Yang to lead the Nittany Lions. Yang also finished a team-best third in the high bar (14.600), earning Gene Wettstone Award honors for his overall impressive performance versus the Wolverines.
Sophomore Felix Aronovich (Kiryat Bialik, Israel) contributed two top three finishes for Penn State, placing second in the parallel bars (14.700) and tied for third with teammate freshman Adrian Evans (Boulder, Colo.) in the pommel horse (14.100).
In addition to his second place in the still rings, Miguel Pineda recorded a 14.300 in the parallel bars to finish in third.
The sixth-ranked Wolverines, which were competing without 2010 NCAA all-around champion Chris Cameron, won the pommel horse and the high bar as a team. Adam Hamers (pommel horse), Syque Caesar (parallel bars), and Thomas Kelley (high bar) secured individual titles. Kelley won the all-around unopposed with a score of 85.300.
The Nittany Lions venture away from home for the second time this season next weekend, traveling in state to Philadelphia for a tri-meet with host No. 11 Temple and No. 14 Army on Sun., Jan. 30. Competition is set to begin at 1 p.m. at the home of the Owls, McGonigle Hall. Penn State defeated Army, 343.300-319.100, on Jan. 8 to open the 2011 season and bested both the Black Knights and the Owls at last weekend's West Point Open. The Nittany Lions have more wins against Temple than other team in program history (74) and have not lost to Army since 1962.