March 6, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
By Anita Nham, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After finishing up the last home meet of the regular season with a win against then-No. 7 Iowa, the Penn State men's gymnastics team will travel to Puerto Rico for the Puerto Rican Gymnastics Challenge for the fifth consecutive year today.
The Nittany Lions will compete against gymnasts of the Puerto Rican and Mexican National Teams as well as Big Ten rival University of Michigan.
Back in January, Penn State took on Michigan in the only double dual of the season and came out on top with a 444.700-436.250 win. Though, the two teams have previously met, the final results from their last meet is no indication of what the outcome will be for this weekend.
"It was early then," said head coach Randy Jepson. "We were certainly more prepared than they were. They're going to be a solid team, ready to go this time around, so I'm expecting a really good competition with them as well."
Senior Ismael Sanabria echoes his coach in that results and standings can always change as the season progresses.
"[The meet against Michigan earlier this season] gave somewhat of a clue, but then again, they didn't have their whole lineup," said Sanabria. "Neither did we though. Especially for me though, it doesn't matter to me what happened before."
This Friday will be a homecoming for seniors Sanabria and Nestor Rodriguez and they couldn't be more ecstatic about it.
"I'm pretty excited," said Sanabria. "I'm competing with my friends again, with my teammates back home...I'll be going back [to Puerto Rico] later, but for the team, it will be the last time. I'm excited for it, but it's also bittersweet because I won't be competing there again and it will be my last competition in Puerto Rico."
In last year's Puerto Rican Gymnastics Challenge, Penn State finished second (428.550). The men's gymnastics team outscored the Puerto Rican national team (405.450), but came up short against Michigan (438.800). Sanabria tied with junior Alexis Torres for eighth on the vault and expectations are high for Sanabria, but coach Jepson believes that he will do a stellar job in his events.
"It's nice for [Sanabria]," said coach Jepson. "He's a senior and this is the last time he'll get to compete with us in Puerto Rico. I know he's got some plans outside of gymnastics after this, so this might be the last time competing in front of his friends and family at home, so I know that he is primed to do a good job there."
Torres led the team with individual titles last year in Puerto Rico. In addition to placing first on still rings, he recorded three more top-5 finishes in floor exercise, parallel bars, and high bar. Torres will not be heading to Puerto Rico this weekend since he will be competing in the American Cup in Arlington, TX.
"It will be a little different weekend since we don't have everyone together," said coach Jepson. "We're sending Alexis Torres off to the American Cup and he'll compete in Texas on Saturday. It's a very prestigious meet. It's actually on NBC at 1 and will be nationally-televised. It will be nice to have him out competing, but it will take something out of our team, obviously."
With a teammate gone for the weekend, Sanabria had some advice for the underclassmen.
"Just stay focused. Do what you do at the gym. It's the same [as other meets], said Sanabria.