Nov. 1, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's gymnastics team hosted the Monster Mash - Clash of the Colors Intra-squad on Oct. 28. It was the final event in a week filled with Halloween activities and competition. The Orange Team, also known as the Smashing Pumpkins, won the weeklong competition.
For the week, the squad was divided into two teams, Orange and Black. The Orange team included seniors Whitney Bencsko and Daryl Konsevick, junior Madison Merriam and sophomores Kassidy Stauder, Stephanie Brock and Kristin Blades. The Black Team, dubbed the Black Widows, included seniors Natalie Ettl and Alex Stine, junior Sharaya Musser, sophomore Lindsay Musgrove and freshmen Krystal Welsh, Alex Witt and Lexi Carroll.
Each day of the week was assigned a theme, including "Pick A Decade" (Monday), "Goth Day" (Tuesday) and "Revenge of the Nerds" (Thursday). The team that represented the daily theme the best earned 10 points towards their total for the week.
The two groups also earned points for having the most spirit each day at practice, sticking landings on vault, hitting handstands on bars, having wobble-free routines on beam and for exceptional style on floor. At the end of each practice, the team with the most points for the day earned the chance to "Trick or Treat". Treats included a day off from conditioning, while an example of a trick was giving 20 points to the opposing team.
After the "Monster Mash" intra-squad on Friday, the final points were tallied, with the Smashing Pumpkins totaling 515 to the Black Widows' 503. The winning team requested a steak dinner to be cooked by the losing team, but will most likely be getting lasagna.
"It was a fun week and the girls realize now that workouts can be fun every day if they have the right frame of mind when they walk in," said head coach Jeff Thompson. "The gymnastics assignments were no different last week than they would have been if it were a normal week. They had fun in workout because they didn't see it as `work'. I think it's going to go a long way in bringing this team closer together without any `weak links.'"
The Penn State women's gymnastics team hosts four meets in Rec Hall in 2012. The Nittany Lions open the 2012 slate in a tri-meet at West Virginia with Maryland on Jan. 8, before traveling to New Hampshire on Jan. 14. The Lions welcome Michigan State, Cornell and Alabama to Rec Hall on Jan. 21 for their home opener.
Head coach Jeff Thompson and associate head coach Rachelle Thompson welcome back 10 letterwinners from the 2011 season, including first team All-Big Ten honorees Sharaya Musser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Natalie Ettl (Waukesha, Wis.) and second team All-Big Ten selection Madison Merriam (Gaithersburg, Md.). The Nittany Lions welcome the addition of three newcomers, including freshmen Lexi Carroll (Olney, Md.), Krystal Welsh (Bowie, Md.) and Alex Witt (Odessa, Fla.).