Feb. 16, 2015
By Gabrielle Richards, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's gymnastics team finished off its Big Ten regular season home schedule on Saturday. While both teams united in competition, wearing pink leotards to bring breast cancer awareness, the Nittany Lions edged the Buckeyes in a 196.275-195.000 victory.
"[The Pink Meet] was an exciting day for us," head coach Jeff Thompson said. "We had a great crowd, despite the snow. I thought the girls did a really good job today."
Two gymnasts from both ends of the experience spectrum led the Nittany Lions to victory over Ohio State: senior Sidney Sanabria-Robles and freshman Briannah Tsang.
Sanabria-Robles' Leadership In All-Around Competition In her last regular season Big Ten meet at Rec Hall, Sanabria-Robles finished in typical fashion: winning the all-around title, winning on uneven bars and tying for the title on beam.
The senior is consistent, a quality that has not only helped shape her collegiate career, but one that has inspired younger gymnasts on the team.
"As a senior, I am taking it all in," Sanabria-Robles said. "We worked really hard in the gym this week. I have learned to take it one meet at a time and do the best I can."
Speaking of "best," the Nittany Lion shined on bars and beam against the Buckeyes. After starting on vault, Sanabria-Robles knew that the next three rotations would make or break the meet. She nailed her bars combination, sticking each of her handstands and dismount. Her performance earned her a personal best of 9.875 in the event, along with the title.
"Our bars performance today was outstanding," Thompson said. "We got a little too excited on vault, so I am really proud of the team for recovering so well on bars."
Aside from her bars performance, the senior was able to finish tied for first on beam, an event she has been solid on all year. Her performance earned a 9.850 helping her to the all-around crown.
"We do our best not to think about the end result," Sanabria-Robles said. "We take it one event at a time and if everyone does their job then it will come together and we will win. If we keep doing this, we will get where we want to be, which is competing in the last day at nationals."
Tsang Sticks It, Again If you have ever wondered why the Penn State coaching staff has been anticipating Tsang's arrival to Happy Valley, you now know why. She has delivered stellar, jaw dropping performances since the beginning of the season. Her tenacity and strength, which is evident in her approach to every event, has helped her earn three Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors this season.
"I feel really blessed to be able to go out there and do what I love to do," Tsang said.
The soft spoken, humble freshman has been one of the most consistent in the Penn State lineup. She has not only improved each week, but uses her own marks as a guide and consistently tries to beat her scores from the previous week, regardless if they are unheard of for a rookie.
"She has been this good since she got here," Thompson said. "When we got in the gym at the beginning of the season, she would do a combination and we would say, `she is this solid and it is October.'"
The freshman stood out the most in her floor routine on Saturday. Thompson and his coaching staff have had to make her routine harder and more challenging each week. While that might sound strange, the more challenging the routine, the more energy and force Tsang can harness into her execution. At the beginning of the season, she was landing outside of the tape because she was over-rotating. Simply put: she is too strong for lower level routines.
Tsang finished her floor routine with a score of 9.925, which is not only a new personal best, but a team best, too.
Looking Ahead Penn State travels to Pitt next weekend, where they will start the final leg of their regular season before starting to prepare for post-season qualifying meets.
"I am proud of them," Thompson said. "The judging we saw this weekend is the kind of judging we are going to see at the regional and national tournament. This way we can get in the gym and fix what we need to fix now so that they will be ready."