Feb. 26, 2016
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PHILADELPHIA - The Penn State women's gymnastics team finished second at the Unite for Her meet inside the Philadelphia Convention Center Friday night with a 195.675. West Virginia won the meet with a 196.225, while West Chester finished third (193.475), Temple took fourth (191.625) and Southern Connecticut State placed fifth (188.700).
The Nittany Lions placed second on the vault (48.850), first on the uneven bars (49.125), second on the balance beam (48.300) and also brought home the floor exercise title with a 49.400. Penn State's 49.400 on the floor exercise is a season-best for the Blue and White. The meet opened for Penn State with a bye in the first rotation.
For the third time this season, junior Kiera Brown (Newport News, Va.) brought home the all-around title -- this time with a career-best 39.475. Brown tallied a 9.900 on the uneven bars and the floor exercise. Also in the all-around, sophomore Briannah Tsang (Vancouver, British Columbia) hit 38.900 to place fourth.
Penn State started the day with four Nittany Lions finishing in the top-10 on the vault. Tsang led the charge for PSU with a season-best 9.900 en route to a second-place finish.
Also on the vault, Brown and freshman Jessica Jones (Canfield, Ohio) tied for fifth with their scores of 9.825, while freshman Mason Hosek (Pearland, Texas) hit a 9.750 to tie for 10th.
In the next rotation, the uneven bars, Brown won the title for the second-straight meet and for the fifth time this season. Junior Nicole Medvitz (Paramus, N.J.) tied a career-best 9.850 to place third, while Tsang tied for fourth (9.825) and Sabrina Garcia (Etters, Pa.) tallied a 9.800 to tie for sixth. Chanen Raygoza (Upland, Calif.) added a 9.750 for Penn State to tie for 10th on the event.
The Nittany Lions then went to the balance beam where Medvitz tied for the individual title (9.900) and Brown tied for fourth (9.850).
Penn State closed out the meet with three Nittany Lions tallying a 9.900 or better on the floor exercise. Tsang won her fourth floor exercise title this season as she tied a career-best 9.925 -- a mark she has now hit twice this season. Brown and Oni Timothy (Rochester, N.Y.) tied for second with their scores of 9.900. Brown's mark of 9.900 is a career-best, while Timothy tied her career-best -- a mark she tallied last season. Jones added a 9.850 on the floor exercise to place eighth.
The Nittany Lions close out their three-meet road trip on March 4 in Tempe, Ariz. The Penn State women's gymnastics team will compete against Arizona State along with the Penn State men's gymnastics team in a double dual format. The meet is scheduled for a 9 p.m. EST start time.