Jan. 31, 2015
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| 195.600 | 196.400 |
| Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill. | |
| Results (PDF) |
| MEET RESULTS | ||||
| PSU | UI | |||
| Team | 195.600 | 196.400 | ||
| V | 49.550 | 49.025 | ||
| UB | 49.000 | 49.150 | ||
| BB | 48.625 | 49.125 | ||
| FX | 48.425 | 49.100 | ||
| EVENT WINNERS | |
| Gymnast, School - Score | |
| AA | Sidney Sanabria-Robles, PSU - 39.500 |
| V | Tsang/Welsh, PSU - 9.950 |
| UB | Mary Jane Horth, UI - 9.925 |
| BB | Sidney Sanabria-Robles, PSU - 9.950 |
| FX | Giana O'Connor, UI - 9.900 |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A school record team score on the vault and a trio of record book performances weren't enough for the No. 9 Penn State women's gymnastics team on Saturday at No. 14 Illinois. The Nittany Lions dropped a 196.400-195.600 decision to the Illini inside Huff Hall.
"It was a tale of two teams tonight," said head coach Jeff Thompson. "We warmed up well, but missed our first bar routine. We were able to hit the next five routines and then stuck five out of six vaults to break the school record.
"We slipped up on some things on the floor exercise and just couldn't get back on track. We were still able to put together a nice score on the road, but we still need to get back to what we do in the practice gym. We can firm up our mental approach and it was a great thing to see that our girls were ready to get back to work right after the meet."
The Nittany Lions started the meet with a 49.000 team mark on the uneven bars and followed that with a school record 49.550 on the vault. All six of the Lions logged scores of 9.850 or better, including a pair of 9.950 scores and one 9.900. The final two rotations saw scores of 48.425 on the floor exercise and 48.625 on the balance beam.
Senior Sidney Sanabria-Robles (Caguas, Puerto Rico) claimed her first all-around title of the season and set a career-high for the second time this season. The senior continued the solid start to her season by posting three scores of 9.875 or better. She topped the balance beam rotation with a career-best score of 9.950 to tie for the ninth best performance in school history. She also logged a career-high 9.900 on the uneven bars and scored 9.875 on the vault.
The duo of senior Krystal Welsh (Bowie, Md.) and freshman Briannah Tsang (Vancouver, British Columbia) tied for the even title on the vault with identical scores of 9.950. Their score puts them in a tie for ninth in school history, with Tsang accomplishing the feat for the second time this season. It was a career-best score of Welsh and tied the career mark for Tsang on the event.
The Lions opened the meet on the uneven bars and hit on five of their six routines after a fall started off the rotation. Sanabria-Robles logged her 9.900 to finish second on the events, while Lauren Li (Plano, Texas), Alex Witt (Odessa, Fla.) and Tsang all finished in a four-way tied for fifth with a score of 9.800. Illinois got off to a good start with a 49.025 on the vault.
A school record 49.550 and five of the top six spots on the vault highlighted the second rotation for Penn State. Welsh and Tsang wrote their name into the record books with scores of 9.950 to tie for the event title and Li logged a 9.900 to finish tied for third. Oni Timothy (Rochester, N.Y.) posted a career-best 9.875 and Sanabria-Robles equaled that mark to finish tied for fifth. The Illini logged a 49.150 on the uneven bars, including an event-winning total of 9.925 by Mary Jane Horth.
With Penn State holding a 98.550-98.175 lead after two rotations, the Nittany Lions headed to the floor exercise. A few missteps led to a 48.425, while Illinois logged a 49.125 on the balance beam. Senior Lexi Carroll (Olney, Md.) was the top performer for Penn State at 9.800 and tied for second overall on the event.
Penn State headed to the beam where it scored 48.625, which included a 9.950 from Sanabria-Robles and a pair of 9.900 scores by Li and Welsh. Sanabria-Robles won the event, while Li and Welsh each tied for second on the apparatus. The Illini finished the night on the floor exercise and scored 49.100 on the event to cap the comeback win.
Penn State returns home for a two straight meets; hosting Michigan State on Feb. 7 and Ohio State on Feb. 14 at Rec Hall with both meets starting at 4 p.m.. The Feb. 7 meet features a coloring contest that allows fans 12-and-under one free admission with a completed coloring page, while the Feb. 14 showdown with the Buckeyes will be the Nittany Lions' annual Flip for the Cure meet. Coloring pages can be found by following Penn State women's gymnastics on Facebook or Twitter.
For information on purchasing 2015 season tickets fans can visit http://www.GoPSUsports.com/tickets or call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
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