Feb. 8, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; February 8, 2013-- After a solid showing on the opening day of the US Gymnastics Winter Cup, Penn State will send five student-athletes to the finals of the event at the Las Vegas Sports Center. The Nittany Lions were the only organization to place three athletes in the top 20 of the all around and are tied with Stanford with five student-athletes in the finals.
Sophomore Matthew Felleman (Medway, Mass.) boasted the ninth best all around score at 82.050 and finished among the top-25 in the 74-person field in five of the six events. His highest finish of the day came on the vault with a score of 15.000, to finish fourth, while placing sixth on the high bar with a mark of 14.050. He was 12th on the parallel bars with a score of 14.000 and was 22nd in both the still rings (12.850) and pommel horse (13.235).
The senior captain, Parker Raque (Louisville, Ky.) came through with a 19th place qualifying score in the all around of 80.850 and totaled four top-20 event finishes. The still rings were the top event for Raque in terms of place, with a sixth place showing and a score of 14.000, while he boasted his highest score of 14.700 to finish ninth in the floor exercise. He was also 15th on the vault (14.650) and 16th on the high bar (13.650).
Howard proved that his College Gymnastics Association Division I Gymnast of the Week honor was no fluke and placed 20th in the prelims of the all around with a score of 79.850. The freshman boasted his highest score of 14.750 in two events, placing sixth on the floor and 11th on the vault. He hauled in a fifth place showing on the parallel bars at 14.400 and finished 21st on the still rings at 12.900.
Both Craig Hernandez (Libertyville, Ill.) and Mackenzie Dow (Cranford, N.J.) advanced to the finals of the Winter Cup, as well, despite only competing on selected events.
Hernandez claimed the session one title and finished third overall on his steadiest event, where the NCAA's top pommel competitor scored 14.450 on the apparatus. The sophomore also placed 39th on the floor exercise with a tally of 13.150. Dow had a trio of top-20 showings at the event, tying for 14th on the pommel horse (13.700), and finishing tied for 17th on the parallel bars (13.700) and floor exercise (14.300).
Adrian Evans (Boulder, Colo.) also represented the Nittany Lions well, tying for 14th on the pommel horse (13.700), placing 23nd on the vault (12.400) and finishing tied for 32nd on the still rings (12.400).
The 42 gymnasts that advanced to the finals will compete for seven roster spots on the U.S. Senior National Team. The seven spots will be filled by the top two ranked all-around gymnasts who are not already on the senior national team, two based on the National Team Points System, two selected by the Men's Program Committee and one selected by the national team coordinator.
The Winter Cup continues at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9 inside the Las Vegas Sports Center. The next team competition for the No. 1 ranked Nittany Lions will come on Saturday, Feb. 16 at Temple.
--NITTANY LIONS--