March 9, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 15th ranked Penn State women's gymnastics team put up its highest score of 196.975 since March 4, 2011 against N.C. State to take first place in their quad meet with Temple, Penn and New Hampshire on Saturday evening in Rec Hall. Finishing in second was New Hampshire at 194.225, followed by Penn (193) and Temple (189.650).
"We had an awesome day today," said head coach Jeff Thompson. "If we gave it away anywhere, we gave it away on the first event. It would have been nice to have an extra .025 of a point to get us to 197, but we are not complaining. We did great on bars, okay on beam, but floor was outstanding. To go over there and put up those performances up on floor, six in a row was great."
Senior Sharaya Musser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won the all-around title with an impressive mark of 39.525. Musser capped off the meet with an impressive 9.925 showing on floor. Four Nittany Lions posted 9.9 or better on the floor and sophomore Lexi Carroll (Olney, Md.) and junior Lindsay Musgrove (League City, Texas) each posted career-highs. Carroll put up a mark of 9.925 while Musgrove finished with a 9.9. Senior Madison Merriam (Gaithersburg, Md.) earned an impressive 9.925 as well to match her career-best. Meanwhile, junior Kassidy Stauder (Palmerton, Pa.) finished with a score of 9.850 followed by freshman Taylor Alotta (New Tripoli, Pa.) with a 9.8.
On the vault, Penn State posted a 49.175 team total, its third highest of the season. Merriam led the way with a 9.9 on the vault, followed by Musser and Musgrove with a 9.85. Junior Sidney Sanabria-Robles (Caguas, Puerto Rico) matched her career-high on the vault with a 9.8. Freshman Samantha Musto (Mays Landing, N.J.) rounded out the scoring for the Nittany Lions with a 9.775.
Over on the uneven bars, Penn State finished with a 49.225, its second highest score of the season. Despite a fall, Penn State's top five finishes were a 9.875 from sophomore Krystal Welsh (Bowie, Md.) three 9.85's and one 9.8. Stauder, Musto and Musser each finished with the 9.85's, while Sanabria-Robles went 9.8.The 9.875 from Welsh marked her career-high.
The Nittany Lions put up a 49.050 on the balance beam, tying for their fourth best mark of the season. Musser led the way for the Lions with a 9.9, followed by a 9.85 from Stauder. Musto, Welsh and Sanabria-Robles each rounded out the Lion scoring with 9.8 each.
The Lions return home on March 16 to take on Kentucky on Senior Night at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall. All tickets can be purchased by calling Penn State Athletics at 1-800-NITTANY or by visiting the Athletic Ticket Office inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
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