Jan. 26, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 5 Penn State men's gymnastics team will venture away from home for the second time this season this weekend, traveling in state to Philadelphia for a tri-meet with host No. 13 Temple and No. 16 Army on Sun., Jan. 30. Competition is set to begin at 1 p.m. at the home of the Owls, McGonigle Hall.
Last week, the Nittany Lions continued their strong start to the 2011 season by knocking off defending national champion Michigan, 350.400-346.900, at Rec Hall in their Big Ten opener. Penn State won three of six events as a team but a dominant effort in the still rings and a 1-2-3 sweep in the vault proved to be the difference. Sophomore Scott Rosenthal (Clearfield, Pa.) (15.400) and junior Miguel Pineda (Galloway, Ohio) (15.300) placed 1-2 in the rings to help Penn State to a team season high score of 60.200. Sophomore Mackenzie Dow (Cranford, N.J.) (16.000) and redshirt junior Warren Yang (Nepean, Ont.) (15.900) set career highs en route to the claiming the top two spots in the vault and sophomore Parker Raque (Louisville, Ky.) used a score of 15.600 to secure third place.
After three weeks of competition, Penn State is ranked nationally in the top six in five of six events, highlighted by its No. 1 ranking in the still rings. Individually, the Nittany Lions have competitors positioned in the top 20 in four of six events, headlined by Scott Rosenthal's No. 3 ranking in the still rings and Warren Yang's No. 6 ranking in the vault.
Temple is coming off a first place finish at last weekend's Navy Open after placing second at the West Point Open the week prior in its 2011 debut. Led by senior Patrick McLaughlin's title wins in the parallel bars (14.300) and high bar (14.100), the Owls scored a 327.300 to top host Navy, William & Mary, and Springfield.
Following a third-place showing at its own West Point Open on Jan. 14, Army fell to 330.000-307.500 fellow academy university Air Force in a dual meet in Colorado Springs, Colo. Sophomore Kip Webber was the Black Knights' top performer, placing second in the vault and high bar and fourth in the parallel bars.
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 the 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.
Next weekend, a Penn State contingent tentatively to be made-up of junior Miguel Pineda, sophomores Tony Beck (Catasauqua, Pa.), Matt Chelberg (Athens, Ohio), and Parker Raque, and freshman Wasef Burbar (Arlington Heights, Ill.) will travel to Las Vegas, Nev. to compete individually in the prestigious Winter Cup Challenge on Feb. 3 and 5.
The remaining Nittany Lions will begin preparations for an upcoming dual meet with Springfield College, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sat., Feb. 12 in Rec Hall. Penn State has not faced the Pride in dual meet competition since 1979 when current head coach Randy Jepson's predecessor Karl Schier led the Lions to a dominating home victory. Two weeks ago at the West Point Open, PSU outscored fifth place finisher Springfield, 347.000-319.400, en route to its 13th consecutive team title at the annual competition hosted by Army.