Feb. 6, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 21 Penn State women's gymnastics team earned a first place finish in a quad meet with Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Bridgeport with a team score of 195.550. West Virginia took second place with a 194.050, Pittsburgh finished third with a 193.475 and Bridgeport placed fourth with a 192.250.
"We're really proud of the way the girls competed," said head coach Jeff Thompson. "We made some changes the night before the meet and after warm-ups. We had a good start on vault and did well on bars. The message we're sending is that if you want to be at the lineup, you have to compete all week and warm up strong at the meet. The team will get more confident if everyone is confident in each other. We hit 23 out of 24 routines and all in all it's an improvement in our team score and we're right where we want to be right now."
Penn State posted team scores of 49.025 on vault, 49.225 on bars, 48.850 on beam and 48.450 on floor. The Nittany Lions had three individuals compete in the all-around with sophomore Madison Merriam (Gaithersburg, Md.) earning the crown with a 38.875. Sophomore Sharaya Musser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) took second with a 38.825 and junior Whitney Bencsko (Pompton Plains, N.J.) tied for fourth with a 38.750. Bencsko also earned the Ann Carr award as the most inspirational gymnast of the meet after competing in the all-around for the first time this season.
The Nittany Lions opened the meet on vault where Musser was Penn State's top performer on the event tying for second with a 9.900. Bencsko took seventh with a 9.825, while freshman Kristin Blades (Gainesville, Va.) placed ninth with 9.800. West Virginia's Hope Sloanhoffer won the event with a 9.950.
Penn State moved onto the uneven bars in rotation two and took the top three spots. Junior Alex Stine (Philipsburg, Pa.) and senior Danielle Hover (Hamburg, N.Y.) tied for third with a 9.825, while Musser took second with a 9.875. Junior Natalie Ettl (Waukesha, Wis.) took the title with a 9.950.
In the third rotation, Penn State moved onto beam where the Nittany Lions had the top three finishers. Freshman Cassidy Bogar (League City, Texas) tied for third scoring a 9.775 and junior Daryl Konsevick (Rutherford, N.J.) finished second with a 9.825. Musser earned the beam crown scoring a 9.925.
Penn State closed out the meet on floor. Top performers for the Nittany Lions included Bogar, who placed 11th with a 9.675, Konsevick who took fourth with a 9.725 and Merriam who scored a 9.750 for second. West Virginia's Chelsea Goldschrafe claimed the floor title with a 9.775.
What's Next?
The Nittany Lions are back in action on Feb. 11 at North Carolina and remain on the road for a quad meet at Maryland on Feb. 18. Penn State returns to Rec Hall on Feb. 26 for a 1 p.m. meet with Ohio State.