March 9, 2013
Final Results | Men's Gymnastics Blog
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State men's gymnastics team took a step outside of NCAA competition on Friday (March 8) when they traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico to compete against members of the Puerto Rican National Team. The competition took place in front of a boisterous crowd at the national team training facility with the Nittany Lions collecting a 421.250-414.050 victory.
"We had an uncharacteristically sloppy night," said Penn State head coach Randy Jepson. "We missed on quite a few routines, which is something that we don't normally do, and a lot of guys got to complete since we were limiting some guys to get everyone some rest. We have some things that we need to work on going into next week and hopefully will learn from this experience.
"The high bar was a bright spot for us tonight. Matthew (Felleman) and Wasef (Burbar) both had sold routines and Mackenzie (Dow) had a nice night, as well. Trevor (Howard) was steady for us again and continues to do a nice job this season."
The Blue and White weren't able to claim any personal best scores and they won just two of the six individual events, but as a team posted 12 top-three finishes and were able to claim the top team score on four of the six events to walk away with the victory. Fourteen different Nittany Lions competed in the event, with may student-athletes performing limited routines in order to get rested for the stretch run of the season.
Parker Raque (Louisville, Ky.) and Alexis Torres (Catano, Puerto Rico) each saw action on four apparatus, while Trevor Howard (Columbus, Ohio) kept his string of consecutive meets with a victory going by winning one of his three events. Matthew Felleman (Medway, Mass.) claimed the only other individual title, taking top honors on the high bar.
Penn State opened the competition with Preston Gall (Columbus, Ohio) taking the runner-up spot on the pommel horse, before Raque and Craig Hernandez (Libertyville, Ill.) finished second and third, respectively, on the floor exercise. Gall posted a score of 14.050, while Raque came in at 14.750 and Hernandez ended with a mark of 14.550.
Howard grabbed top-three finishes in the next three events, including a winning score of 14.850 on the vault. The rookie also finished runner-up on the parallel bars at 14.850 and tied for third with Raque for third on the still rings at 14.900. It marks the sixth straight event to begin his career that he has claimed at least one victory, with three coming on the vault.
Felleman topped the high bar lineup for the fourth time this season when he flew to a 14.750 score. Senior Mackenzie Down (Cranford, N.J.) finished third in the event for the Blue and White with a mark of 14.150 and Wasef Burbar (Arlington Heights, Ill.) followed in fourth at 14.100. Burbar also scored 14.400 to finish fifth on the floor and was fourth on the parallel bars at 14.750.
The Nittany Lions will return to action on Saturday, March 16 when they host Michigan on Senior Day inside of Rec Hall. The meet will begin at 7 p.m., but arrive early as we honor the men's and women's seniors in their final home meet of their careers.
--NITTANY LIONS--