March 8, 2014
1st of 4 |
Durham, N.H. • Lundholm Gymnasium • Attendance: 827 | 197.200 No. 19 Penn State (18-2, 3-1 Big Ten) |
DURHAM, N.H.; March 8, 2014 - The 18 wins so far this season are the most by a Penn State team since 2007 when they posted 19 regular season wins, after the Nittany Lions toppled host New Hampshire (196.675), George Washington (195.150) and Bridgeport (193.400) in the meet.
"I would not have guessed that we would have scored a season-high after our warm up tonight," said head coach Jeff Thompson. "We didn't look focused and we also had an injury in warm up which forced us to change the lineups. We got off to a decent start, but we talked to the team after that and they really hit on balance beam. We rocked our floor exercise and then had a great showing on vault.
"We did a great job tonight of really falling back on our training tonight and trusting everything that we have done in the practice gym. We really had a lot of fun and it was a championship type atmosphere. A smaller arena that was full and the fans were really loud and into the meet the whole time."
The Nittany Lions not only posted the third highest team score in program history, but also notched the program's fourth highest score on the balance beam and sixth highest score on the vault. They scored 49.375 on the balance beam and 49.450 on the vault, while also tallying 49.025 on the uneven bars and 49.350 on the floor exercise.
The Lions won at least a share of all four event titles, with freshman Emma Sibson (Allen, Texas) claimed the outright vault title and senior Lindsay Musgrove (League City, Texas) won the floor exercise crown. Kassidy Stauder (Palmerton, Pa.) and Nicole Medvitz (Paramus, N.J.) tied for first with individuals from Bridgeport and George Washington on the uneven bars, while Stauder and Kelsey Aucion of New Hampshire tied for top spot on the balance beam.
The Nittany Lions opened the meet with a strong showing on uneven bars, scoring 49.025, but trailed host New Hampshire by 0.175 after one rotation. Medvitz and Stauder set the tone for the event, with Medvitz posting a career-best score of 9.850. Stauder's 9.850 marks the seventh time this season that she scored better than 9.850 and was the seventh time she tied for or won the event title.
Stauder followed that with a career-best showing on the balance beam at 9.950, which is tied for the 10th best effort on the event in school history. The score also tied for the event title to give the senior six such efforts for the year.
A 39.475 in the all-around gave Stauder her second straight career-best effort in the competition and won the event title. It was her third all-around title of the season, as she scored 9.825 or better and counted her score towards the team total on all four events.
Sibson had a career-best effort to post the top score on the vault, sticking her landing to post a 9.975. It is the top score of the season for a Nittany Lions and is tied for second in the Big Ten conference. The score ranks tied for fifth in school history and is the second time this season the rookie has topped the 9.950 mark in a meet.
She also set a career-high on the floor exercise by scoring 9.900 to place second in the event.
Musgrove recorded a career-best 9.925 to win the floor exercise, while Sidney Sanabria-Robles (Caguas, Puerto Rico) notched a stellar 9.900 on the vault to tie her career-best effort.
Also setting career-highs on the night was Randi Lau (Honolulu, Hawaii) on the balance beam (9.875) and floor exercise (9.875), Medvitz on the balance beam (9.875), Sanabria-Robles on the balance beam (9.875) and Krystal Welsh (Bowie, Md.) on the vault (9.875).
Penn State will conclude the regular season in a quad meet at No. 7 Michigan with Iowa and No. 12 Minnesota next Saturday, March 15. The meet in Ann Arbor will air live on the Big Ten Network at 1:30 p.m.
Penn State will begin the postseason on their home floor, hosting the 2014 Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships on March 22 and the 2014 NCAA Regional Championships on April 5 inside historic Rec Hall.
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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