Feb. 15, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's gymnastics team will send four student-athletes to the 2017 Winter Cup in Las Vegas, Nev. at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino Thursday Feb. 16 and Saturday, Feb. 18.
Seniors Leroy Clarke, Jr. (Maplewood, N.J.) and Dominic DiFulvio (Marietta, N.Y.) will make the trip along with sophomore Michael Burns (Baltimore, Ohio) and freshman Favian Valdez (Kearny, N.J.).
Last season, Clarke made his first appearance at the Winter Cup, finishing 19th overall on the pommel horse in the event finals, while also competing on the still rings and the parallel bars. The Maplewood, N.J. native has posted eight podium finishes in the first five weeks of the season, earning one title on the pommel horse at the West Point Open in the team portion of the event. Clarke has placed third on the pommel horse three time this season and finished second one time. Last weekend, Clarke scored a season-best 14.700 on the horse for a third-place finish and earned a season-high 14.050 on the still rings for a fourth-place finish against Ohio State.
DiFulvio has come out strong in his final season donning the Blue and White, winning at least one title in the first three weeks of the year. The Marietta, N.Y. native won the still rings title at the first three meets of the season and placed second in the other two meets. DiFulvio has also picked up victories on the floor exercise, the vault, the parallel bars and the all-around.
Burns has been a steady competitor for the Nittany Lions in the first five meets of the season, winning the all-around at the West Point Open and also picking up the high bar title. The sophomore all-arounder will make his second appearance at the Winter Cup as he competed on five-of-six events in the 2016 season. The Baltimore, Ohio native has earned five other podium finishes this season for the Blue and White, most recently finishing second on the high bar at Illinois.
Finally, Valdez makes his first at the Winter Cup for Penn State after qualifying as a Junior Olympic competitor last year. Valdez has proven to be one of the best freshman competitors in the Big Ten, winning Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors three times during the course of the first five weeks of the season. The Kearny, N.J. native has earned three titles, including the all-around victory at Illinois. Furthermore, Valdez has stood on the podium 11 times in his first season as a Nittany Lion.
While the four student-athletes compete at the Winter Cup, the rest of the team will take the weekend off competition before heading to Navy Saturday, Feb. 26.