Jan. 6, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; January 6, 2014 - The No. 15 Penn State women's gymnastics team swept the weekly Big Ten honors after opening the season with a 193.925-193.550 victory at Iowa State on Sunday (Jan. 5). Junior Randi Lau (Honolulu, Hawaii) earned Big Ten Gymnast of the Week, freshman Nicole Medvitz (Paramus, N.J.) garnered Big Ten Freshman of the Week and senior Kassidy Stauder (Palmerton, Pa.) was named Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week.
It is the first career weekly Big Ten honor for Lau, Medvitz and Stauder.
Lau opened up her Penn State career with a solid showing in the all-around at Iowa State and claimed the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor. The junior, who transferred from LSU after 2013, claimed the vault title with a stellar mark of 9.825 and finished tied for second in the all-around with teammate Sidney Sanabria-Robles (Caguas, Puerto Rico) after totaling 38.825 points. Lau added scores of 9.525 on the uneven bars, 9.725 on the balance beam and 9.750 on the floor exercise to her stellar vault score.
In her first collegiate competition, Medvitz was able to come out and shake off any nerves she might have had to turn in the team's top performance on the balance beam. The rookie was second up on the beam - an event that sealed the win for Penn State - and posted a team-best effort of 9.750 to finish third overall. Her work on the balance beam was enough to grab the initial Big Ten Freshman of the Week accolade.
Stauder couldn't have had a better start to her senior season, helping the Nittany Lions to a team win while posting the squads top score on the uneven bars. That 9.750 effort on the uneven bars earned her the Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week distinction. The senior placed third overall on the event and also anchored the balance beam lineup with a score of 9.725 to help the Lions seal up the meet victory.
The Nittany Lions will have just five days before heading to Lexington, Ky. to compete in a quad meet at the University of Kentucky on Friday, Jan. 10. Ball State and West Virginia will also join the Nittany Lions and Wildcats at Memorial Coliseum at 7 p.m.
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