Feb. 22, 2016
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Head coach Jeff Thompson captured his 150th career victory Monday night as the Penn State women's gymnastics team defeated Big Ten opponent Maryland, 196.350-195.350, inside the XFINITY Center. Three Nittany Lions won event titles with Kiera Brown (Newport News, Va.) winning the vault and the uneven bars and finishing with the top all-around score (39.350).
Along with Brown winning the vault and uneven bars, Nicole Medvitz (Paramus, N.J.) finished first on the balance beam and Briannah Tsang (Vancouver, British Columbia) captured the floor exercise title.
With the win the Nittany Lions improve to 4-5 (3-2 Big Ten), while Maryland falls to 2-8 (0-5 Big Ten).
The Nittany Lions opened the night with a 49.200 on the uneven bars. Their score of 49.200 on the event tied their second-best score of the season. PSU claimed three of the top-four spots in the uneven bars standings as Brown captured her first event title of the night with a 9.900. Freshman Sabrina Garcia (Etters, Pa.) finished second with her 9.875 and Chanen Raygoza (Upland, Calif.) tallied a 9.825 to place fourth.
The Nittany Lions went to the vault and tallied a season-best 49.000 as a group. On the vault, Penn State swept the top-five spots with Brown leading the way with her 9.825 for her second event title of the meet. Garcia, Raygoza and Tsang tied for second with their scores of 9.800. Freshman Mason Hosek (Pearland, Texas) added a 9.775 to round out the top-five for Penn State.
Tsang anchored the Nittany Lion lineup on the floor and brought home her third floor exercise title of the season with her 9.900. As a team, the Nittany Lions hit their second-best score of the season on the floor exercise (49.050). Also on the floor exercise, Oni Timothy (Rochester, N.Y.) tied for third (9.825) and Garcia tied for fifth (9.800).
The Nittany Lions closed out the meet on the balance beam with a team score of 49.100 as Medvitz captured her second-straight balance beam title as the final gymnast of the night (9.875). Along with Medvitz, Brown and Garcia tied for second (9.850) while Raygoza tied for fifth (9.800). Penn State's 49.100 is the second-best team score for the Nittany Lions in 2016.
Penn State's Garcia finished second in the all-around with a career-best 39.325 and Tsang placed third (39.225).
The Nittany Lions' tally of 196.350 on the night is a season-high score.
Penn State competes again on Friday in Philadelphia, Pa. Penn State will take part in the Pink Invitational against Southern Connecticut, Temple, West Chester & West Virginia at 5 p.m. inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center.