Jan. 25, 2014
Navy Open |
Annapolis, Md.. • Macdonough | 420.900 No. 6 Penn State |
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The No. 6 Penn State men's gymnastics team powered past the competition on the way to a first-place finish (420.900) at the Navy Open Saturday, Jan. 25 at Macdonough Hall. As a team, the Nittany Lions swept the field in all six events, while also picking up three individual titles along the way.
Sophomore Trevor Howard (Columbus, Ohio) led the way with a trio of top five finishes, including a first-place finish on the high bar, winning by a score of 14.600. Howard also placed second on the parallel bars (14.400) and on the still rings, swinging to a season-high score of 15.750.
Sophomore Alexis Torres (Catano, Puerto Rico) secured a first-place finish in the floor exercise (14.850), while also registering a third-place finish on the vault with a score of 14.400. Rounding out the group of first-place finishers was junior Craig Hernandez (Libertyville, Ill.), who captured his first individual title of the year, posting a season-high score of 14.65 on the pommel horse in his third consecutive appearance.
On the high bar, Penn State captured the top three positions, featuring Howard's first-place finish. Junior Matt Felleman (Medway, Mass.) followed closely behind with a 14.400, good for second place, while redshirt freshman Leroy Clarke closed out the top three slots with a third-place finish (14.100).
The Nittany Lions claimed spots two, three and four on the vault, led by Felleman, who recorded a 14.500 second-place performance. Torres and junior Ismael Sanabria (Caguas, Puerto Rico) followed with scores of 14.450 and 14.400 for third and fourth place, respectively.
Freshmen Christian McSwain (Jamestown, N.C.), Dominic DiFulvio (Marietta, N.Y.) and Jeremy Munn (Yorke, Maine) all made contributions to the win. DiFulvio notched a pair of top-10 performances, registering a season-high, fifth-place finish on the parallel bars (15.200) and an eight-place finish in the floor exercise (13.750). McSwain also set a season-high mark, securing a second-place finish on the pommel horse with a score of 14.400.
Next up, the Nittany Lions will return home from the road to host Temple Saturday, Feb. 8 in its first double dual of the 2014 season, along with the Penn State women's gymnastics team. The matchup is set for 4 p.m. in Rec Hall.
Both season and single meet tickets are available for purchase. Season ticket packages costs $12 for adults and $8 for youth, while single meet tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for youth. Single meet tickets are available for purchase in advance at the Bryce Jordan Center and at the Rec Hall ticket window on the day of the meet. Group tickets can be purchased in advance for a reduced rate of $4 per ticket. Fans can catch all the action from Rec Hall with live scoring updates, which will be available on www.GoPSUSports.com.
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