April 3, 2015
By Gabby Richards, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Sprinting toward a stationary object might not be something that people typically choose to do voluntarily. For the Penn State women's gymnastics team, that is something that they do best.
Vault is a tricky apparatus to master. If you don't run fast enough, you wont have enough momentum to make a full rotation. If you can't make a full rotation, you might become one with the landing mat. But, if everything goes right, this skill is incredibly impressive.
The Nittany Lions have had an exceptional season on vault, continuously putting up big numbers in the event. Heading into this weekend's NCAA Regional Championships, Penn State is ranked No. 3 on this apparatus.
"We just need to do what we do in practice," head coach Jeff Thompson said. "We stick vaults in meets. We stick vaults at practice. This tournament just needs to be an extension of that so we can put up the best score possible."
The vaults that these gymnasts perform are a continuation of a skill set that they have developed since their "club" days. When freshman gymnasts come in, they typically perform a vault, with an added skill, that they had performed before coming to college. For freshman Briannah Tsang, vault is one of her favorite events, one that she has mastered since winning the 2013 Elite Canada Vault Title.
"I love this event," Tsang said. "It is a power event and that is one of my strengths. We work really hard on this event."
Throughout the course of the 2014-15 season, various Nittany Lions have broken the ever-coveted 9.900 mark on vault, with a handful breaking a 9.925.
"We have a lot of variety to our vaults," Krystal Welsh said. "We all don't just do a Yurchenko Full. We have a lot of different skills that we are able to perform well, which helps set us apart."
The Penn State women's gymnastics team will take the floor in the NCAA Regional Championships on Saturday at 4:45 p.m. in Norman, Oklahoma.
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