April 7, 2015
| NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS | |||||||
| Team Qualifying Session : Thursday, April 9 - 2 p.m. ET | |||||||
| Team and All-Around Finals: Friday, April 10 - 8 p.m. ET | Individual Finals: Saturday, April 11 - 8 p.m. ET | ||||||
| Lloyd Noble Center | Norman, Okla. | |||||||
| MEET DAY LINKS | |||
| Live Stream | Fox College Sports Atlantic (Team Finals) | |||
| Live Results: Qualifier Session One | Team Finals | Individual Finals | |||
| Men's Gymnastics Blog | |||
| Championships Central | Penn State NCAA Meet Notes | Coach Jepson Preview | |||
| Follow Us: @PennStateMGYM | Facebook | |||
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After capturing the third Big Ten title in school history two weeks ago, the No. 3 Penn State men's gymnastics team is ready for the upcoming NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships. The NCAA Championship meet is held in Norman, Okla., inside the Lloyd Noble Center April 9-11.
Penn State begins the three-day event in the first session of the NCAA qualifier Thursday, April 9 at 1 p.m. (CDT)
The Nittany Lions will compete in session one (1 p.m.) against No. 2 Stanford, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 7 California, No. 10 Air Force and No. 11 Nebraska. Session two (7 p.m.) features No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Illinois No. 8 Iowa, No. 9 Ohio State and No. 12 Army.
The top-three teams, the top-three all-around competitors and the top-three individuals on each event from a non-qualified team from each session will advance to Friday's session.
Day two (April 10) of the meet will decide the team champion and the all-around champion, while the individual event titles will be up for grabs on Saturday, April 11. Both days start at 7 p.m.
Last year at the NCAA Championships, the Nittany Lions finished sixth as a team and Craig Hernandez, Trevor Howard and Alexis Torres garnered All-America honors. In 2013, Matthew Felleman posted an All-America finish (fourth) on the high bars.
The Nittany Lions enter this weekend's competition looking to capture their 13th national title in program history. Penn State's 12 team titles ranks first in the NCAA among all active DI programs.
RECAPPING THE BIG TEN MEET
Team Finals
March 27, 2015; UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's gymnastics team won the 2015 Big Ten Championship in thrilling fashion Friday night in front of 1,060 fans inside Rec Hall. Penn State won its title with a team score of 436.700, edging out Illinois (436.100) and Michigan (434.750). Along with Penn State's third Big Ten title, senior Matthew Felleman (Medway, Mass.) won Penn State's third all-around title with his career-best score of 87.200.
Going into the final rotation, it was a close matchup between Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Penn State. Heading into the seventh and final rotation, Michigan led the competition with its score of 434.750. Michigan, though, would be done for the evening as they had a bye in the final rotation.
With six rotations in the books, Michigan held a 71.350 point lead over Illinois, a 71.550 point lead over Minnesota and a 72.850 point over Penn State.
In the seventh rotation, Illinois went to the parallel bars, Minnesota competed on the pommel horse, Michigan was on its bye and Penn State took to the floor exercise.
Minnesota was the first team out of three to finish; in the end they tallied a score of 70.350 to finish with a score of 433.750, leaving the meet down to Illinois, Michigan and Penn State.
Illinois and Penn State gymnasts went back and forth finishing their respective routines vying for the Big Ten crown.
Due to an injury earlier in the meet to Alexis Torres (Catano, Puerto Rico), Christian McSwain (Jamestown, N.C.) found himself leading off for the Nittany Lions in the floor exercise. In his first event of the meet, McSwain posted a mark of 14.800 to give the Nittany Lions an energetic start. Following McSwain was Dominic DiFulvio (Marietta, N.Y.). DiFulvio recorded a score of 14.750 to continue the momentum for Penn State and next up for the Nittany Lions was three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week Thad Lawson (Chesapeake, Va.).
Lawson built off the success from the first two Nittany Lion performances and recorded the third-best score (15.250) overall on the evening. Felleman was the fourth Nittany Lion gymnast to compete and he scored 14.900. The final Nittany Lion to compete was Trevor Howard (Columbus, Ohio), who two years earlier won the NCAA floor exercise title at Rec Hall. Howard posted a score of 15.100 to give the Nittany Lions a team score of 74.800 on the floor exercise and the top score overall in the competition. Penn State would have to wait to see if its score would hold with Illinois' final competitor about to take to the parallel bars.
On the parallel bars, Illinois recorded scores of 13.750, 14.650, 15.050, 14.100 and 15.150 giving them a team total of 72.700 and an overall score of 436.100. With Illinois' score in the books, Penn State claimed its third Big Ten title (2003, 08).
Penn State opened the meet with a bye in rotation one and then started competing on the pommel horse in rotation two.
On the pommel horse, the Nittany Lions posted an overall score of 69.250. Two-time Big Ten pommel horse champion Craig Hernandez (Libertyville, Ill.) tallied the top score on the evening (15.200). Following the pommel horse, Penn State went onto the still rings.
In the still rings, Penn State posted the top score in the competition (74.950). Individually, the Nittany Lions recorded three of the top five scores. Howard led all gymnasts with a career-best score of 16.100. Tristan Duverglas (West Orange, N.J.) and Torres both posted scores of 15.100 to tie for fifth. Howard moved into a tie for third all-time in the Penn State record books with his mark of 16.100.
In rotation four, the vault, Penn State finished third with a score of 73.750. Lawson and Howard both posted scores of 15.050 to tie for fourth and they advanced to the individual finals Saturday night; Lawson's score of 15.050 is a career-best.
The Nittany Lions would then head to the parallel bars. In rotation five, Torres was not able to complete his routine and freshman Quest Hayden (Harrisburg, Pa.) made his Big Ten Championships debut. With Hayden waiting to compete, Howard tallied a score of 14.850. Hayden then took to the parallel bars and recorded a mark of 14.300. As a team, Penn State posted a score of 72.600 to tie for third.
With Torres done for the evening, Lawson took his spot on the high bar.
Felleman and Leroy Clarke, Jr., (Maplewood, N.J.) led the Nittany Lions on the high bar with their top-five performances. Felleman posted the second-best score (15.100) and Clarke, Jr., recorded the fifth-best mark (14.750). As a team, Penn State tallied the second-best score in the competition and a season-best mark of 72.350. Penn State's score of 72.350 ranks tenth all-time in the Nittany Lion record books.
Felleman captured Penn State's third all-around title with his score of 87.200, edging out Illinois' Bobby Baker (87.100) and C.J. Maestas (87.050). Casey Sandy (2008) and Mike Dutka (1998) both won Big Ten all-around titles for Penn State.
In the all-around, Felleman recorded scores of 14.900 (floor exercise), 13.800 (pommel horse), 14.200 (still rings), 14.700 (vault), 14.500 (parallel bars) and 15.100 (high bar).
The Nittany Lions received a one point deduction for the injury substitution.
LAST YEAR AT THE NCAA MEET
Team Finals
April 11, 2014; ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The No. 6 Penn State men's gymnastics team earned a sixth-place finish in the NCAA team and all-around finals Saturday evening at Crisler Arena. The Nittany Lions logged a pair of top-3 team scores on both the floor exercise (74.300) and the pommel horse (72.200) to finish with a total team score of 429.800.
Michigan claimed the NCAA national title with a top score of 445.050, while Oklahoma and Stanford finished second and third with scores of 441.650 and 436.300, respectively.
Junior Craig Hernandez (Libertyville, Ill.) and sophomore Trevor Howard (Columbus, Ohio) led the Nittany Lions with a pair of top-3 performances to advance to tomorrow's individual event finals. Sophomore Alexis Torres (Catano, Puerto Rico) also qualified for tomorrow's competition with a top-10 showing on the rings.
Hernandez highlighted the evening with a third-place finish on the pommel horse. Posting a 15.300, he led PSU for the second consecutive night on the apparatus, finishing behind first-place finishers Michael Reed (Oklahoma) and Sam Mikulak (Michigan).
Howard and Torres led the Nittany Lions on the still rings with two top-10 performances. Howard finished tied for fifth with a 15.000, while Torres put up a 14.950 to place him in a three-way tie for seventh with Iowa's Matt Loochtan and Springfield's Ryan Ponce.
Torres closed out the team finals with one more top-10 performance. He recorded a 15.250 to put him in a three-way tie for 10th with Oklahoma's Alec Robin and Ohio State's Jake Martin. Robin and Martin won the NCAA tiebreaker to advance to tomorrow's finals on the floor exercise.
As the final competitor of the night for the Nittany Lions, sophomore Trevor Howard (Columbus, Ohio) swung to a career-high score of 15.500 on the parallel bars to slot him third overall. Howard finished ninth overall on the all-around with a total score of 85.100. He also tallied two more top-20 performances with a 13th-place finish on the floor exercise (15.200) and 19th place finish on the vault (14.800).
Individual Finals
April 12, 2014; ANN ARBOR, Mich. - A trio of Penn State gymnasts featuring junior Craig Hernandez (Libertyville, Ill.), sophomore Trevor Howard (Columbus, Ohio) and Alexis Torres (Catano, Puerto Rico) recorded three top eight finishes in the individual finals to All-America honors in the 2014 NCAA National Championships Saturday evening at Crisler Arena.
Coming off of a career-high performance in last night's NCAA team finals, Howard posted a 15.050 on the parallel bars to earn his second career All-America distinction. Howard's sixth highest score of the season finished tied for sixth with Ohio State's Sean Melton. In last night's team finals, Howard put on an impressive showing with a score of 15.500, which placed third overall.
The 2014 Big Ten still rings individual champion also competed on the still rings, earning a ninth-place finish with a score of 14.800. In addition to 2014 first team All-Big Ten Honors, Howard also concluded the season with Penn State's top season scores on the rings and the parallel bars, while also leading the team in all-around performances.
Torres earned his first career All-America honor as he swung to a score of 14.850 on the rings to finish eighth overall. He stood on the podium as Penn State's 43rd All-America on the rings in program history. Torres burst into the lineup this season as one of Penn State's top finishers in multiple events.
As one of his top events, Torres posted eight performances where he scored at least 15.100 on the rings during the 2014 season, including a season and career-high mark of 15.800 in the regular season finale at Michigan.
Hernandez earned his second career All-America honor on the pommel horse, recording a fifth-place finish with a score of 14.775. While it was not his best score of the season, Hernandez capped off the 2014 season with his 12th top-5 finish of the season. He also closed out the year with the team's top three performances on the apparatus.
In addition to taking home five pommel horse titles during the regular season, Hernandez set a season-high mark with a score of 15.175 at the Big Ten Championships to earn second team All-Big Ten honors.
Since 1938, Penn State has seen 108 student-athletes earn All-America honors on 303 occasions. The Nittany Lions have also had at least one All-American in 60 of the 76 seasons since the NCAA Championships began.
B1G HONORS
During the 2015 season, three Nittany Lions have garnered Big Ten weekly honors. Craig Hernandez and Alexis Torres have both been named Gymnast of the Week and Thad Lawson has tallied three freshman of the week honors.
MARCH 16
Against Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska, Torres tallied five top-five finishes including his first place finishes on the still rings and the high bar. On the still rings, Torres posted a score of 15.900 and on the high bar he recorded a career-best score of 15.200. He also finished first in the all-around with a score of 89.500.
MARCH 9
Following his performance at the Puerto Rico Gymnastics Challenge, Thad Lawson was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week (March 9). This is third award of the year for Lawson.
Lawson and the Nittany Lions posted an overall score of 425.100 to finish second Friday night at the Puerto Gymnastics Challenge at the Pedrin Zorilla Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Michigan won the meet with its team score of 431.000.
Individually, Lawson tied for first in the floor exercise (15.400) and he tied for third in the vault with his mark of 14.750.
MARCH 2
On March 2, the Big Ten announced that Thad Lawson (Chesapeake, Va.) was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week and Alexis Torres (Catano, Puerto Rico) was named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week. This is the second career award for both Lawson and Torres.
Lawson won his third floor exercise title of the year against Iowa with his career-best mark of 15.700. His score moves him into fourth all-time at Penn State.
Torres, a junior, tallied five top-three finishes, an eighth-place finish in the vault and in the all-around, he posted the top score (90.550) against the Hawkeyes. Torres climbed the Penn State record books Friday night. He tied Tommy Ramos (2008) for sixth all-time in the still rings (16.000) and he moved into eighth all-time in the all-around event.
JANUARY 26
After capturing the school record in the pommel horse against Michigan, senior Craig Hernandez (Libertyville, Ill.) was named the Big Ten Co-Gymnast of the Week (Jan. 26).
Hernandez and the No. 4 Nittany Lions defeated the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines Saturday in front of 2,385 fans inside Rec Hall, 444.700-436.350. In the pommel horse event, Penn State posted a score of 75.000, which is the second-best mark all-time for the Nittany Lions.
Individually, Hernandez captured his second pommel horse title of the 2015 season with his school record score of 15.950.
JANUARY 16
Lawson and Torres were also honored by the Big Ten earlier this season following their performances at the West Point Open.
After helping the No. 6 Penn State men's gymnastics team to its 16th West Point Open team title on Jan. 16, Torres was named the Big Ten Co-Gymnast of the Week and Lawson garnered the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award (Jan. 19).
In the team finals, Torres placed second still rings (15.750), tied for second in the parallel bars (15.200) and finished fifth in the vault (14.350). Torres captured the still rings title in the individual finals with his career-best score of 15.950. His score of 15.950 moves him into seventh all-time at Penn State.
Lawson won the floor exercise event with his score of 15.300 and finished third in the vault with his mark of 14.600. In the team finals, Lawson posted the fifth-best score in the floor exercise (14.850) and the second-best score in the vault (14.650).
HERNANDEZ NAMED NISSEN-EMERY FINALIST
Senior Craig Hernandez (Libertyville, Ill.) has been named a finalist for the 2015 Nissen-Emery Award, as announced by the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) Wednesday afternoon (March 11). Hernandez is one of six finalists for the prestigious Nissen-Emery Award.
The Nissen-Emery Award is an annual honor presented to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in collegiate gymnastics. First awarded in 1966, the accolade honors the senior gymnast who has established a record of outstanding achievement throughout his collegiate career, while also maintaining a high standard of academic scholarship and sportsmanship.
Hernandez has garnered numerous awards throughout his Penn State career for his work as a Nittany Lion gymnast and in the classroom. On the pommel horse, he has been named an All-American twice (2013-14) and he is a two-time Big Ten champion (2012-13). During his freshman year, 2012, he was a NCAA finalist in the floor exercise. Earlier this year he broke his own school record (15.750) in the pommel horse with his score of 15.950.
In the classroom, Hernandez currently holds a 3.3 grade point average as a chemistry major. He has been named Academic All-Big Ten and a CGA Academic All-American three times.
He is also the 27th Nissen-Emery finalist in Penn State program history and the fourth consecutive Nittany Lion finalist since 2012. A total of six PSU gymnasts have gone on to earn collegiate gymnastics' highest honor, including the most recent Penn State award winner, Casey Sandy, who captured the top honor in 2009.
Each year, collegiate gymnastics coaches, student-athletes and accredited college gymnastics judges from across the nation submit their nominations for the award prior to the conclusion of the current season. Gymnasts receiving a 50% vote of confidence from the head coaches are then placed on a final ballot and voted upon by the coaches, team captains, Honorary Lifetime Members, and conference judges.
The award will be presented at the NCAA national championship at the University of Oklahoma during the CGA Awards Banquet, Wednesday, April 8, at 8 p.m. (CT) in Norman, Okla. The trophy is inscribed with the motto: "The true champion seeks excellence physically, mentally, socially, and morally."
The original Nissen Award was named in honor of George Nissen, a former NCAA champion, for his contributions to men's gymnastics. The award was re-named the Nissen-Emery Award in 1998 to honor Dr. Robert Emery, a Penn State graduate, who won the Nissen Award in 1969.
JEPSON! JEPSON! JEPSON!
Head coach Randy Jepson won his third Big Ten Coach of the Year award following the Nittany Lions' third (2003, `08, `15) Big Ten title earlier this season.
CGA GYMNAST OF THE WEEK
Junior Alexis Torres (Catano, Puerto Rico) has been named the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) Gymnast of the Week twice this season (March 5 and 19).
He picked up his honor following his performance against Iowa last Friday night (Feb. 27). Torres and the Nittany Lions closed out their final home meet of the season with a 440.800-435.700 win over the Hawkeyes on Senior Night.
Torres, a junior, tallied five top-three finishes, an eighth-place finish in the vault and in the all-around, he posted the top score (90.550). Torres climbed the Penn State record books Friday night. He tied Tommy Ramos (2008) for sixth all-time in the still rings (16.000) and he moved into eighth all-time in the all-around event.
Against Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska (March 15), Torres tallied five top-five finishes including his first place finishes on the still rings and the high bar. On the still rings, Torres posted a score of 15.900 and on the high bar he recorded a career-best score of 15.200. He also finished first in the all-around with a score of 89.500.
SCHOOL RECORD MARKS
Individually, Penn State has posted 13 top-10 school record book performances during the 2015 season, including Craig Hernandez's school record score of 15.950 in the pommel horse.
As a team, Penn State has tallied 22 top-10 school record book performances in the 2015 season. The Nittany Lions have set the school record in the floor exercise (75.800) and the parallel bars (75.950).
AMERICAN CUP
Penn State junior Alexis Torres has been added to the field of competitors for the 2015 AT&T American Cup.
Torres will be representing his home country of Puerto Rico at the meet. Previously, Torres was a member of the Puerto Rican national team that finished seventh at the Olympic Test Event and he also competed at the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, China.
Last year, Torres was named an All-American in the still rings with his eighth-place finish (14.850) at the NCAA Finals.
Featuring the world's best gymnasts in a one-day all-around competition, the AT&T American Cup is the USA's most prestigious international invitational and part of the International Gymnastics Federation's all-around World Cup Series.
WINTER CUP
Craig Hernandez and Trevor Howard represented the Nittany Lions at the 2015 Winter Cup. Hernandez finished 12th on the pommel horse, while Howard placed 30th in the all-around competition.
350 WINS
With a second-place finish on March 15 at Nebraska, Coach Jepson eclipsed the 350 win mark as the head coach of the Nittany Lions.
IN THE RANKINGS
Nationally as a team, the Nittany Lions rank in the top-10 in all six events, including three averages that rank in the top-three. Penn State ranks third in team score average (435.956), third in the floor exercise score average (74.006), second in the still rings score average (74.372) and Penn State is also second in parallel bars score average (73.406).
Individually between the six events the Nittany Lions have 12 top-15 scoring averages. Trevor Howard ranks in the top-10 in three events; He ranks second in the still rings (15.467), seventh in the parallel bars (14.791) and tenth in the vault (14.800). Also, Alexis Torres ranks third in the still rings (15.457).
FOUR ALL-AMERICANS RETURN
The 2015 Nittany Lion men's gymnastics team will be led by four All-Americans. Craig Hernandez (pommel horse), Trevor Howard (parallel bars) and Alexis Torres (still rings) garnered All-America honors last year, while Matthew Felleman (high bar) garnered All-America honors in 2013.
B1G PRESEASON POLL
The Penn State men's gymnastics team was picked fourth in the Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the conference office. Along with the preseason coaches' poll, Trevor Howard (Columbus, Ohio) and Néstor Rodriguez (Guaynabo, P.R.) were selected as "Gymnasts to Watch" for the upcoming season.
CGA PRESEASON POLL
The Nittany Lions entered the 2015 season ranked No. 6 by the College Gymnastics Association (CGA). Penn State received one first place vote.
FOUR IN A ROW
Trevor Howard won the 2015 Big Ten still rings title, marking the fourth year in a row a Nittany Lion has won an event at the Big Ten meet.
IT'S ALL ABOUT FAMILY
The Penn State gymnastics program is all about family and there is one special connection within the Nittany Lion family.
Senior Sidney Sanabria-Robles transferred to Penn State after spending a season at LSU and one of the main factors in that move was being close to family. Sanabria-Robles competes for the women's squad, while her brother, Ismael Sanabria, is a part of the Penn State men's program.
SMART LIONS
The CGA released its list of 2014 CGA All-America Scholar-Athletes, and the Nittany Lions were represented with one first team All-American Scholar-Athletes and five second team All-Americans Scholar-Athletes.
In order to garner first team recognition, student-athletes had to achieve a grade point average of at least 3.50 while members of the second team attained between a 3.20 and 3.499. The Blue and White placed 10th as a team in the NCAA and fourth among Big Ten squads with a combined GPA of 3.024.
Adrian Evans led Penn State with first team Scholar-Athlete All-America honors as he had a GPA between 3.70 and 3.799.
Evans is a four-time CGA All-America Scholar-Athlete recipient and a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree. During the 2014 gymnastics season, Evans was named a Nissen-Emery Finalist, team captain, the recipient of the Ernest B. McCoy Award and the 2013-14 Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient.
Dominic DiFulvio, Preston Gall, Craig Hernandez and Ingvar Jochumsson all garnered second team Scholar-Athlete All-America honors as they tallied GPAs between 3.30 and 3.399. Franz Card also received second team Scholar-Athlete All-America honors with his GPA between 3.20 and 3.299.
Last year, Evans and Jochumsson were both named First Team CGA All-Academic Scholar-Athletes, while Gall and Hernandez were on the second team.