March 21, 2014
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 21, 2014 - The Nittany Lions claimed a second place showing at the Big Ten Quad Meet in Ann Arbor last weekend and will compete in the evening session of the 2014 Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships on their home floor on Saturday, March 22.
This will be the fourth time in conference history that Penn State's historic Recreation Building will host. The Big Ten title was also handed out at Rec Hall during the 1994, 2000 and 2007. In all three of those championships, Penn State has finished second to Michigan.
Penn State will begin the postseason on their home floor, hosting the 2014 Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships on March 22. The Nittany Lions will join Illinois, Minnesota and Nebraska in the 5 p.m. session of the championships, while Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State will all compete at Noon inside Rec Hall. Both sessions will be aired live on the Big Ten Network.
Last weekend, the Nittany Lions scored 49.025 or better on all four events - the third time this season they have topped 49.00 on each apparatus - and claimed a 196.475 team score to finish just behind No. 13 Minnesota's 196.700.
Finishing ahead of No. 8 Michigan and Iowa in Ann Arbor gave the Nittany Lions their first 20-win regular season in school history. Penn State ended tied for third in the Big Ten with a 5-2 record in conference meets and ended the regular season 20-3 overall, with losses to No. 21 Kentucky, No. 8 Nebraska and the Gophers.
Penn State was shutout of an event title for the first time all season at the Big Ten Quad, as the Nittany Lions have won 30 individual event crowns this season. Twelve of those titles have come outright and 18 of them have been ties. Penn State also has four all-around titles to their credit - three of those belonging to Kassidy Stauder and one for Sidney Sanabria Robles.
The trio of senior Kassidy Stauder and juniors Sidney Sanabria-Robles and Krystal Welsh all earned All-Big Ten recognition from the conference office on Tuesday. Stauder was an All-Big Ten First Team selection after leading the conference on the balance beam and ranking among the top five in the all-around.
On the All-Big Ten Second Team was Sanabria-Robles and Welsh. Sanabria-Robles ranks eighth in the conference in the all-around, while sitting among the top-20 performers on the vault, balance beam and floor exercise. Welsh is the No. 9 all-arounder in the conference and ranks among the top-20 in the Big Ten on the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise.
Freshmen Nicole Medvitz and Emma Sibson have both been major contributors for the Nittany Lions this season, as well. Medvitz has been a part of the team's balance beam lineup all season, ranking second on the team in the event. She also has a good scoring average on the uneven bars, competing in 10 of the team's 11 events. Sibson has made touches on three of the four apparatus this season and is the team's top performer on the vault. Her 9.975 on March 8 at New Hampshire ranks tied for fifth in school history.
The Nittany Lions will then host the 2014 NCAA Regional Championships on April 5 inside historic Rec Hall, looking to earn a trip to the 2014 NCAA Championships in Birmingham, Ala.
For information on purchasing 2014 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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