March 22, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 12th-ranked and No. 2 seed Penn State women's gymnastics team travels to Iowa City, Iowa and the campus of The University of Iowa for the 2012 Big Ten Championships on Saturday, March 24. The championships will be split in two sessions with the Nittany Lions competing in session two at 7 p.m. ET.
The meet will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. Live scoring will be available via a link at GoPSUsports.com.
Penn State at the Big Ten Championships
Heading into the Big Ten Championships at Minnesota on Saturday, March 24, Penn State ranks second in the conference according to the GymInfo poll, with a regional qualifying score (RQS) of 196.230. Nebraska leads the league with an RQS of 196.960, and Ohio State is third at 196.115. Michigan, who has captured the conference titled in 18 of the last 20 years, is seeded No. 5 to the championships.
Penn State, a member of the Big Ten Conference since the 1992 season, has 11 second place finishes and six third place finished at the Championships during that time span. Penn State has produced 13 Big Ten Individual Champions earning 23 titles, including senior Natalie Ettl (Waukesha, Wis.) and junior Sharaya Musser (Colorado Springs, Colo.). Ettl won the 2010 and 2011 Big Ten uneven bars title, while Musser earned the vault and all-around titles.
In the Rankings
Below is where Penn State sits in the respective GymInfo rankings for the week of March 19 (based on Regional Qualifying Score).
Team: 196.230, 12th (Leader: Florida - 197.395)
Vault: 49.180, 11th (Leader: UCLA - 49.490)
Bars: 48.995, 18th (Leader: Florida - 49.365)
Beam: 49.120, 9th (Leader: Florida - 49.410)
Floor:49.205, 9th (Leader: Oklahoma - 49.380)
Individually in the National Rankings
Musser ranks second in the nation in the all-around with an RQS of 39.540, while junior Madison Merriam (Gaithersburg, Md.) is ranked 23rd (RQS: 39.245). Musser also ranks fifth on vault (9.920), 17th on bars (9.880), fourth on beam (9.905) and eighth on floor (9.900). Merriam is also ranked on floor at 19th (9.885).
What's Next?
Following the Big Ten Championships the Nittany Lions await their fate for the NCAA Regionals. The NCAA Selection Show for women's gymnastics is scheduled for 3 p.m. on March 26 on NCAA.com.
The Penn State women's gymnastics team is on Twitter. Follow the team (@PSUGym) to get the inside scoop. The Nittany Lions are also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pennstatewomensgymnastics.