Feb. 13, 2017
ROSEMONT, Ill. - The Penn State men's gymnastics team continues to prove that it has recruited the top freshman in the country as Sam Zakutney (Ottawa, Ontario) earned his second Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor as announced by the conference office Monday, Feb. 13.
The award marks the fifth-straight week that a Nittany Lion has earned the nod as fellow freshman Favian Valdez (Kearny, N.J.) has earned the honor three times and Zakutney has garnered it twice.
Zakutney was the lone event winner for the Blue and White against Ohio State, earning the victory in both the parallel bars and the all-around. The Ottawa, Ontario native notched a career-high 13.800 on the floor exercise for a sixth-place finish before coming in eighth on the vault with a 13.900.
The freshman all-arounder capped off the day with three podium finishes which included a 14.750 score and a victory on the parallel bars, while finishing second on the high bar with a 14.300. Finally, Zakutney earned a career-high 83.150 on the all-around to win his second title of the 2017 season.
Selected gymnasts will be heading to the Winter Cup Thursday, Feb. 16 and Saturday, Jan. 18 in Las Vegas, Nev., while Zakutney and the rest of the Nittany Lions will be back in action Saturday, Feb. 25 at Navy.