April 19, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Junior Sharaya Musser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) of the Penn State women's gymnastics team will represent the Nittany Lions in the 2012 NCAA National Championships on April 20-22 in Duluth, Ga. Musser qualified as an individual all-around competitor after finishing third in the all-around at the NCAA Raleigh Regional Championships on April 7 at N.C. State's Reynolds Coliseum.
Musser will compete in the second session of the NCAA Championships slated for Friday, April 20 at 6 p.m. in the Gwinnett Center. Musser, who will compete with Florida, will open the meet on vault before a bye. In rotation three, Musser and the Gators will compete on the uneven bars and move to beam for the fourth rotation. After a second bye, she will conclude session II on floor.
The 2012 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year and Northeast Region Gymnast of the Year, Musser was one of three individual all-around competitors to earn a 39.450 at regionals to lead the pool of 12 individual qualifiers. While aiding Penn State to a fourth place finish at regionals, Musser placed in the top four on three of the four events, including third on vault and beam and fourth on bars. A First Team All-Big Ten selection and six-time Big Ten Gymnast of the Week, this will be her third straight appearance at Nationals. A consistent threat for the Nittany Lions, Musser won the all-around in 10 of 12 meets prior to regionals and finished in the top four in the other two. Heading into regionals, Musser ranked second nationally in the all-around and in the top five on vault and beam.
The women's gymnastics championships consist of 12 teams and 12 all-around competitors, who are not on a qualifying team, and individual event specialists. The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors from each of the six regionals have advanced to the national championships.
The top three teams from each semifinal advance to the Super Six competition on Saturday, April 21. The top four individuals from each session in each event (plus ties) from the preliminary team and all-around competition compete in the individual event competition on Sunday, April 22.
The Penn State women's gymnastics team is on Twitter. Follow @PSUGym for the inside scoop. You can also find updates on the Nittany Lion gymnasts at GoPSUsports.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pennstatewomensgymnastics.