March 19, 2016
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LINCOLN, Neb. -- The Penn State women's gymnastics team tallied a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships Saturday evening inside the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Michigan claimed the title with a 197.125, followed by host Nebraska (196.900), Minnesota (196.575), Penn State (196.150), Iowa and Ohio State (195.875), Michigan State (195.475), Illinois (195.175), Rutgers (194.775) and Maryland (194.025).
The 2016 Big Ten meet marked the 25th appearance for the Nittany Lions since joining the conference in 1992. In 12 of the 25 championship meets, the Nittany Lions have scored a 196.125 or better.
With six teams competing in the evening session, each squad had two byes in the competition. The Nittany Lions started the day with a bye before going to the floor exercise, vault, their second bye, uneven bars and they closed out the competition on the balance beam.
Junior Kiera Brown (Newport News, Va.) highlighted the day for the Blue and White as she tied for the uneven bars title (Brianna Brown, Michigan). Brown tied for the top-spot on the uneven bars as she tied her career-best 9.950, a mark she set earlier this season against North Carolina State (Jan. 9).
Sophomore Briannah Tsang (Vancouver, British Columbia) finished eighth in the all-around with her score of 39.325. Tsang recorded scores of 9.850 (vault), 9.800 (uneven bars), 9.825 (balance beam) and 9.850 (floor exercise).
PSU took to its first event, the floor exercise, during the second rotation. The Nittany Lions scored a 49.175 on the event, which is the third-best floor exercise score for PSU on the year.
During the second rotation, sophomore Oni Timothy (Rochester, N.Y.) tied her career-best (9.900) to tie for fourth. Saturday's score marked the second time in 2016 that Timothy netted a 9.900 on the floor exercise.
Also tying a career-best on the floor exercise Saturday was freshman Mason Hosek (Pearland, Texas). Hosek hit a 9.850, a mark she tallied last week at the Big Five Qualifier inside Rec Hall. Hosek and Tsang tied for 13th with their scores of 9.850.
The Nittany Lions then went to the vault during rotation three. On the vault, Penn State tallied a 48.900 on the apparatus.
On the vault, Penn State was led by Tsang, who tallied a 9.850 to tie for sixth, and freshman Jessica Jones (Canfield, Ohio), competing in her first Big Ten Championship meet, tied for 16th with a 9.800.
After the vault, Penn State did not compete during the fourth rotation and went to the uneven bars during rotation five. On the uneven bars, Penn State tallied a 48.975.
Brown, in her first year at Penn State after transferring from Georgia, anchored the Nittany Lion lineup on the uneven bars to tie for the event title. Brown tied her career-best on the event as she hit a 9.950, which is tied for the third-best score in program history. Brown's title Saturday is the 17th Big Ten event title in program history for the Nittany Lions.
Nicole Medvitz (Paramus, N.J.) and Tsang added a 9.800 on the event for the Nittany Lions to tie for 26th.
The Nittany Lions closed out the competition with a 49.100 on the balance beam. In the final rotation for the Blue and White, four Nittany Lions scored a 9.825 or better.
Jones tallied her second-best score of the season Saturday with a 9.850 to finish tied for seventh and a trio of Nittany Lions scored a 9.825 on the apparatus, as Hosek, Medvitz and Tsang tied for 12th.
Brown was named to the Big Ten All-Championships Team, while Christina Postiglione (Selden, N.Y.) was named as Penn State's Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Penn State will await the NCAA Regional announcement which will take place live on NCAA.com on Monday at 4 p.m. EDT.
Big Ten Individual Awards
Gymnast of the Year: Lindsay Mable, Minnesota
Freshman of the Year: Olivia Karas, Michigan
Coach of the Year: Jenny Hansen, Minnesota
All-Championships Team
Bridget Hodan, Illinois
Sunny Kato, Illinois
Mollie Drenth, Iowa
Angel Metcalf, Iowa
Kathy Tang, Maryland
Nicole Artz, Michigan
Brianna Brown, Michigan
Olivia Karas, Michigan
Elena Lagoski, Michigan State
Hailee Westney, Michigan State
Lindsay Mable, Minnesota
Hollie Blanske, Nebraska
Danielle Breen, Nebraska
Sienna Crouse, Nebraska
Jennie Laeng, Nebraska
Grace Williams, Nebraska
Kaitlyn Hofland, Ohio State
Kiera Brown, Penn State
Riahanah Ali, Rutgers
Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Mary Jane Horth, Illinois
Melissa Zurawski, Iowa
Kathy Tang, Maryland
Lindsay Williams, Michigan
Brittany Holmes, Michigan State
Madeline Hanley, Minnesota
Danielle Breen, Nebraska
Rachel Abrams, Ohio State
Christina Postiglione, Penn State
Kathryn Stebick, Rutgers