Feb. 8, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 5 Penn State men's gymnastics team will see its first action in two weeks when it hosts No. 16 Springfield College on Sat., Feb. 12 in a 7 p.m. dual meet at Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions are undefeated heading into the second full month of the 2011 campaign, with key match-ups and stern tests against Big Ten foes and national powers looming on the remainder of the regular season schedule.
The trip to Las Vegas, Nev. that junior Miguel Pineda (Galloway, Ohio), sophomores Matt Chelberg (Athens, Ohio) and Parker Raque (Louisville, Ky.), and freshman Wasef Burbar (Arlington Heights, Ill.) were to make last week in order to compete at the 2011 Winter Cup Challenge was cancelled due to the severe winter storm that struck the nation's heartland. Penn State claimed its biggest win of the year when last in action the week prior, defeating defending national champion Michigan, 350.400-346.900, at home on Jan. 22.
Heading into its sixth week of competition, Penn State is ranked nationally in the top six in all six events, highlighted by its No. 1 ranking in the still rings. Individually, the Nittany Lions have a total of eight competitors positioned in the top 20 of the six events, headlined by Scott Rosenthal's No. 3 ranking in the still rings and Warren Yang's No. 5 ranking in the vault.
Springfield College, which possesses a 318.483 score average, is coming off a 330.900-327.500 road loss to Army in its first dual meet of the season on Jan. 28. Junior Ty Evans contributed the Pride's top performance, winning the all-around with a score of 82.800. Springfield began the season with three consecutive open competitions, with its top finish, a fourth place showing, coming at the Navy Open on Jan. 22. The Pride has no individuals ranked nationally in the top 20 but is positioned as a team in the top 15 in the floor exercise and pommel horse.
Penn State has not faced Springfield College in dual meet competition since 1979 when current head coach Randy Jepson's predecessor Karl Schier led the Lions to a dominating home victory (216.800-184.500). In the second week of the season, 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. Overall, the Nittany Lions hold a 27-3 record in its all-time series with the Pride.
Fans can follow all of the action of the Penn State-Springfield dual on the Internet with live scoring updates or with a live video webcast from Rec Hall. Find a link on the official website of Nittany Lion athletics, www.GoPSUsports.com.
The Nittany Lions will continue both their road and Big Ten schedules next weekend when they travel to Champaign, Ill. for a 6 p.m. ET dual meet with defending conference champion No. 3 Illinois on Sat., Feb. 19. The Illini is undefeated heading into this week's match-up with 2010 NCAA champion Michigan in Ann Arbor, boasting a season-high score of 355.400. Penn State has lost two straight to Illinois, including last season's 354.600-345.950 setback at Rec Hall.