March 17, 2016
By Miranda Kulp, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - With only one meet left in the regular season, Penn State men's gymnastics is entering Saturday's meet against Michigan strong and focused.
"This weekend's meet is really important to us since it's the last chance we have to end the season to really show everyone what we got," said redshirt-sophomore Joseph Boyle. "Michigan is a very tough team and since we won the Big Ten last year, we know they're going to be throwing their best at us on Saturday."
Since the Lions are the defending champs, all are keeping their eyes on the prize, as Saturday's competition will affect post-season chances and rankings.
"We've all been working really hard this season and are excited for this meet. It's always a good time when it's another Big Ten team and we want to show everyone what Penn State can do," said Boyle.
Although every member of the team bleeds Blue and White, Boyle has been a Nittany Lion fan since he was a kid.
"Penn State has always been a family thing for me," said Boyle. "Since I'm from New Jersey a lot of my family has gone here including my older sister who actually graduated a few months before I enrolled my freshman year."
"I've always loved coming to Penn State when I was growing up and was constantly surrounded by Penn State fans so it was pretty clear I was going to come here one day."
In addition to his family influence, Boyle was attracted to Happy Valley due the combination of both athletics and academics the university offers.
Outside of gymnastics, Boyle is biology major and also a member of Schyer's Honor College. After Penn State, he has dreams of attending medical school.
"Being a student athlete is really awesome, just being on this team has given me a new perspective of Penn State. It allows you to notice how much support there is at such a big university," said Boyle.
"Gymnastics teaches you a lot of valuable life lessons and with such a demanding schedule it really forces you to make sure you always have your schoolwork done and are ready to go for practice, overall it's been an extremely humbling experience," continued Boyle.
Boyle started off in gymnastics at a very young age, again due to family influences.
"My sister was involved in gymnastics and since I was always doing it in the waiting room, my mom finally signed me up for it also," said Boyle.
Whether it's his family in New Jersey or his gymnastics family at Penn State, Boyle credits his career to his family.
"I always want to do well to benefit Penn State, we're all brothers and anything I can do to help the team out is great," said Boyle.
Boyle's typically competes in floor exercise and on both vault and high bar for the Nittany Lions. His high score is a 14.300 on the floor.
Boyle will join the rest of the squad as they hit the road for Michigan. The meet will take place on this Saturday, March 19th, in Ann Arbor. The start time is 1:00 p.m. ET.