Jan. 22, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's gymnastics team opened its home schedule with a 195.275-194.475 win against New Hampshire. Sophomore Madison Merriam (Gaithersburg, Md.) was the Ann Carr award winner as the most inspirational gymnast of the meet.
"It was a very exciting first night for us in Rec Hall," said head coach Jeff Thompson. "We are really proud of the way the girls competed. We were rewarded our hard work on vault and floor with our highest scores on those two events. Those are the two events we felt we needed the most improved and are happy we were able to do that in competition. Although we put ourselves under pressure falling on our first two balance beam routines, the girls showed tremendous character by finishing that event off strong leading into unbelievable floor performances. It seemed like the people that were here were really involved in the meet. It was an exciting environment and we look forward to many, many more great nights in Rec Hall."
The Nittany Lions won four individual event titles as well as the all-around as the team scored a 49.050 on vault, a 48.700 on the uneven bars, a 48.450 on beam and a 49.075 on floor.
Penn State opened the meet on vault and had three gymnasts finish in the top three. Freshman Kristin Blades (Gainesville, Va.) tied for third place scoring a career-high 9.800. Merriam and New Hampshire's Austyn Fobes both scored a 9.800, as well. Sophomore Sharaya Musser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) posted a season-high 9.925 to win the event.
The Nittany Lions moved to the uneven bars in rotation two. The Lions claimed the top five spots on the event. Freshman Stephanie Brock (Burlington, N.J.) competed on vault for the first time this season and scored a 9.700 for fifth place. Junior Alex Stine (Philipsburg, Pa.) posted a 9.725 for fourth, while junior Whitney Bencsko (Pompton Plain, N.J.) took second with a 9.750 with Musser. Merriam won the event for PSU tying her season high on the event with a 9.775.
For the third rotation, Penn State moved to beam. Freshman Kassidy Stauder (Palmerton, Pa.) finished fourth for the Nittany Lions scoring a personal-best 9.825. Junior Daryl Konsevick (Rutherford, N.J.) placed third with a career-high 9.850, while Musser shared the event title with New Hampshire's Chelsea Steinberg with a season-best 9.875.
Penn State closed out the meet on floor with four gymnasts finishing in the top five. Konsevick and STauder tied for fourth scoring a 9.800, while Musser earned a second place finish with a season-high 9.850. Merriam claimed the floor title with a career-high 9.875.
What's Next?
The Nittany Lions return to campus on Sunday, Feb. 6 to host Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Bridgeport at 2 p.m. in Rec Hall.