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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; January 17, 2014 - The Penn State women's gymnastics team (3-1) spent the first two weeks of the season on the road, but will finally get to perform in front of the Rec Hall faithful this weekend when they host Cornell, Southeast Missouri State and UIC on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 4 p.m.
The Nittany Lions will be hosting their first of four regular season meets, before the historic Recreation Building hosts the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA Regional Championships at season's end. Saturday's meet will begin at 4 p.m. inside Rec Hall and will be the annual poster giveaway meet, with the team signing autographs and greeting fans after the meet on the west mezzanine level.
Senior Kassidy Stauder (Palmerton, Pa.) is enjoying a great start to her final season wearing the blue and white. She tied with teammate Krystal Welsh (Bowie, Md.) for the team's top all-around last weekend at Kentucky's Excite Night to finish tied for second with a mark of 38.925. She currently owns the team's top score on the uneven bars (9.800) and ranks second on the balance beam (9.725).
Welsh completed her second all-around of the season at Kentucky with a score of 38.925 and is also tied with Stauder atop the balance beam charts with a 9.800 mark in Lexington, Ky. The junior also ranks fifth on the squad on the vault (9.725) and balance beam (9.675).
Junior's Randi Lau (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Sidney Sanabria-Robles (Caguas, Puerto Rico) have both been steady performers out of the game for Penn State. The duo both set career-bests on the floor exercise last weekend at Kentucky and tied for the event title with a score of 9.825.
Lau currently ranks among the team's top five performers in all four events and the all-around. She leads the team on floor exercise and vault (9.825), ranks third on the balance beam (9.725) and sits fourth on the uneven bars (9.725).
Among the team leaders in all four events and the all-around, as well, Sanabria-Robles ranks atop the floor exercise, sits second on the vault (9.750), is third on the uneven bars (9.750) and ranks fourth on the balance beam (9.700).
The freshman duo of Nicole Medvitz (Paramus, N.J.) and Emma Sibson (Allen, Texas) will add a third first time performer to their group this weekend, as Christina Postiglione (Selden, N.Y.) is slated to make her debut with an exhibition performance on the balance beam.
Medvitz has posted the team's top balance beam score this season, logging a 9.750 at Iowa State, and Sibson has put together back-to-back vaults of 9.725 to open her career.
After hosting their first meet of the season, Penn State will travel to Michigan State for a 2 p.m. competition on Saturday, Jan. 25 to open their Big Ten slate.
For information on purchasing 2014 season tickets or Big Ten and NCAA Regional Championship tickets fans can visit http://www.gopsusports.com/tickets/w-gym-tickets.html or call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
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