April 10, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State is among the 12 team field that will compete at the 2012 National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics Championships, the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Committee announced on Tuesday. Scheduled for April 19-21 on the host campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., the 70th annual event will be held at the Lloyd Noble Center.
The NCAA's top 12 teams, based on their final national qualifying average, earned bids to compete, including Penn State, which finished the season ranked No. 2. Also qualifying are Big Ten teams Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Ohio State in addition to Oklahoma, Stanford, California, Temple, and Air Force.
Also released were the assignments for the national qualifier sessions on Thursday, April 19. Penn State, along with Stanford, Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska, and Iowa will compete in Session I at 2 p.m. ET while Oklahoma, Illinois, Minnesota, California, Temple, and Air Force will comprise the Session II field, set to begin at 8 p.m. ET.
The top three teams from each qualifier will then advance to contend for the national championship at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, April 20. The individual all-around champion will also be crowned that evening. The following night, on Saturday, April 21, the individual event finals will be held at 8 p.m. ET, with six national titles and All-American honors at stake.
Penn State is coming off a third place finish at last weekend's 2012 Big Ten Championships in Iowa City, Iowa. Junior Scott Rosenthal (Clearfield, Pa.) captured the Big Ten still rings title while freshman Craig Hernandez (Libertyville, Ill.) earned a share of the pommel horse crown, giving Penn State two Big Ten champions for the first time since 2008. Junior Felix Aronovich (Kiryat Bialik, Israel) earned First Team All-Big Ten honors after finishing fourth in the all-around and medaled, along with redshirt sophomore Nihir Kothari (Malvern, Pa.), in the still rings, tying for third place.
Penn State has won an NCAA record 12 team championships, last capturing the national crown in 2007 at home in Rec Hall, and 51 individual titles.