March 12, 2016
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's gymnastics team set the fourth-best score in program history en route to a second-place finish at the Big Five Qualifier Saturday afternoon inside Rec Hall. Minnesota finished first overall and captured the 2016 Big Ten women's gymnastics regular season title.
Minnesota finished first with a 197.425, followed by Penn State (197.125), Michigan (196.875), Iowa (196.650) and Rutgers (194.550).
"It was exciting, we got off to a great start on bars and when I say great I mean really great," stated head coach Jeff Thompson. "We stuck all six bar dismounts to get off to a huge score. We went to beam next and hit five out of six for another great score. We went and sat on the bye and talked about where we were. We talked about how we were in the lead after two rotations and to try to not let that affect us. We wanted to just come out, have fun and do what we do every day. We came out and again hit five out of six floor routines and then went to vault where we hit the highest score the year to round out the meet."
Junior Nicole Medvitz (Paramus, N.J.) highlighted the day for the Nittany Lions as she tied the fifth-best score in program history on the balance beam with a career-best 9.975 to place second. Minnesota's Hannah Nordquist captured the balance beam title with a perfect 10.000 as the final gymnast of the day for the Golden Gophers.
The Nittany Lions closed out their home slate of 2016 with season-best scores on the balance beam, uneven bars, and the vault.
Penn State began the afternoon with a season-best 49.325 on the uneven bars. All six Nittany Lions hit a 9.800 or higher, including a pair of Nittany Lions who tallied a 9.875 or better.
Junior Kiera Brown (Newport News, Va.) led the charge for the Nittany Lions on the uneven bars with a 9.900 to place second followed by freshman Sabrina Garcia (Etters, Pa.), who tied a career-best 9.875, to tie for third. A trio of Nittany Lions tied for fifth with their scores of 9.850. Jessica Jones (Canfield, Ohio), Chanen Raygoza (Upland, Calif.) and Briannah Tsang (Vancouver, British Columbia) all notched a 9.850 for the Blue and White.
Penn State carried its momentum to the balance beam in the second rotation with a 49.375. Penn State's 49.375 on the balance beam is a season-best and it ties the No. 4 performance in program history. The Nittany Lions last hit 49.375 on the balance beam in a quad meet against Bridgeport, George Washington and New Hampshire on March 8, 2014.
On the balance beam, Medvitz etched her name into the Nittany Lion record book as she tied the No. 5 performance in school history. Medvitz anchored the Nittany Lions on the balance beam with her career-best 9.975. Her tally Saturday is the ninth time in school history a Nittany Lion has scored 9.975 or better on the apparatus. The last Nittany Lion to do so was Meredith Hoover on Feb. 25, 2006. Heading into the meet, Medvitz' career-best on the event was 9.900.
Also on the balance beam for PSU, Brown tied a career-best 9.900 to tie for fifth and Tsang tied for 10th with her 9.875.
Heading into the third rotation, Penn State held a 98.700-98.550 lead over Michigan and in the third rotation Penn State did not compete due to its bye. Heading into the fourth rotation, Minnesota tallied a 147.750-147.450 lead over Michigan for the top spot in the competition.
During the fourth rotation, the Nittany Lions posted a 49.225 on the floor exercise, which is the second-best floor exercise score of the season for PSU. Garcia recorded a career-best 9.900 as she tied for fourth to lead the Nittany Lions.
Behind a 49.675 on the balance beam for the Golden Gophers during the fourth rotation, Minnesota tallied a 197.425-147.925 lead over Penn State heading into the final rotation. Minnesota ended the meet with a bye during rotation five.
Penn State closed out the day with a season-best 49.200 on the vault. For Penn State on the vault, Brown tied for fifth with her career-best 9.875, while Raygoza and Tsang tied for ninth (9.850).
Tsang finished the day tied for fifth in the all-around with her mark of 39.350, which is a season-best score for the sophomore.
Overall, Penn State finished the day with the fourth-best score in program history (197.125). Penn State's score was the highest for the Blue and White since a quad meet against Bridgeport, George Washington and New Hampshire on March 8, 2014 (197.200).
With the second-place finish, the Nittany Lions will compete in the night session of the Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships Saturday, March 19, in Lincoln, Neb. The night session will start at 5 p.m. EDT live on the Big Ten Network inside the Bob Devaney Center.