Feb. 24, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's gymnastics team (5-6, 2-3 Big Ten) returns to Rec Hall for its final home meet of the 2017 season on Saturday, Feb. 25, against the Pittsburgh Panthers. The meet is Senior Day for the Nittany Lions and is scheduled for 4 p.m.
The Nittany Lions are coming off a fourth-place finish at a quad meet against Sacramento State, Texas Woman's University and Western Michigan last weekend in Denton, Texas.
As a team at the TWU quad meet, the Nittany Lions tied the No. 10 performance on the balance beam with a 49.300.
Individually, a pair of Nittany Lions combined for four titles. Sabrina Garcia continued her stellar sophomore season as she tied a career-best 39.400 for her second career all-around title, and she tied for the floor exercise title with fellow Nittany Lion Briannah Tsang and two other gymnasts. Along with the title on the floor exercise, Tsang won the balance beam title outright with a season-best 9.925.
Following the conclusion of Saturday's meet, the Nittany Lions will honor seniors Nicole Medvitz, Tina Postiglione and Emma Sibson.
Next up the Nittany Lions head to Philadelphia for their final non-conference meet of the 2017 regular season. On March 5, Penn State takes on Bridgeport, Penn and West Chester at 4:30 p.m. inside the Palestra.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with live stats and live video on GoPSUsports.com for free.
PROMOTIONS
- Short Day: Any one shorter than 4-11 receives free admission
- Kids Zone from 2:30 - 4:30
- Senior Day ceremony at the end of meet
TICKET INFORMATION
Single meet tickets are available for all home meets in advance and at the door on the event night at a cost of $8 for adults and $5 for youth. Group tickets (20 or more) can be purchased in advance for a reduced rate of $4 each.
All tickets can be purchased by calling Penn State Athletics at 1-800-NITTANY or by visiting the Athletic Ticket Office inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
ABOUT PITTSBURGH
The Pittsburgh Panthers make the trek to Happy Valley following a fourth-place finish at a five-team meet at George Washington on Feb. 17.
At George Washington, the Panthers set season-best scores on the uneven bars (48.950) and the balance beam (48.550) en route to a season-best team score of 194.725.
Individually on the year, Tracey Pearson has tallied team-leading scores of 9.875 (vault), 9.900 (floor exercise) and 38.900 (all-around).
Based on Regional Qualifying Scores (RQS) as a team, Pittsburgh ranks 48th in team score (193.775), 45th on the vault (48.525), tied for 47th on the uneven bars (48.430), 59th on the balance beam (47.925) and 32nd on the floor exercise (48.865).
Individually in the RQS standings for the Panthers, Tracey Pearson leads team on the vault (9.835) and on the floor exercise (9.830). Lucy Brett leads the team on the uneven bars (9.760) and Brittany West leads the team on the balance beam (9.740).
SERIES VS. PITTSBURGH
The Penn State-Pittsburgh series dates back to 1965 with Pittsburgh capturing the victory in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
The Nittany Lions lead the all-time regular season series, 47-3-0.
The two teams last met in 2015 with Penn State capturing a 196.175-193.350 victory over the Panthers in Pittsburgh.
ABOUT PENN STATE
Heading into the Pittsburgh meet, the Nittany Lions rank 38th in team score in the RQS with a 194.415.
The Nittany Lions also rank 49th on the vault (48.465), 35th on the uneven bars (48.690), 22nd on the balance beam (48.835) and 56th on the floor exercise (48.370).
Individually in the RQS standings, Briannah Tsang leads the team on the vault (9.810), Kristen Politz leads the team on the uneven bars (9.790), Nicole Medvitz leads the team on the balance beam (9.870) and Sabrina Garcia leads the Nittany Lions on the balance beam (9.830) in the all-around (38.675).
BIG TEN HONORS
Following the season-opening quad meet, Briannah Tsang was named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week for the first time in her career.
Individually, Tsang won titles outright on the vault (9.850), floor exercise (9.850) and all-around (39.350). She also tied for the balance beam title with a 9.825.
SUCCESS ON THE BALANCE BEAM
Dating back to the 2010 season, the Nittany Lions have ended the season with a 49.000 or better on the balance beam in the RQS standings.
Currently the Nittany Lions' 48.835 on the balance beam is fourth-best in the Big Ten and ranks 22nd in the nation.
Individually, senior Nicole Medvitz is tied for 20th in the nation, and is tied for the Big Ten lead on the balance beam RQS with a 9.870.
STELLAR SOPHOMORE SEASON
In her second year with the Blue & White, sophomore Sabrina Garcia has set a pair of top-10 performances in the Penn State record books and has won eight event titles.
In the Penn State record books, Garcia has tallied a 9.950 on the uneven bars twice, which is tied for the No. 3 performance in school history.
On the year, Garcia has claimed two uneven bars titles, one balance beam title, three floor exercise titles, and two all-around titles.
HOMECOMING
Penn State's trip to Texas will be a homecoming for three Nittany Lions. Sophomore Mason calls Pearland, Texas, home, Tess McCracken hails from Plano, Texas, and Emma Sibson is from Allen, Texas.
WELCOME BACK
The Nittany Lions return 12 members from the 2016 team that finished fourth at the Big Ten Championships and fifth at the NCAA Regional Championships.
Last year, a pair of Nittany Lion freshmen competed in all 12 meets (Mason Hosek & Jessica Jones), while freshman Sabrina Garcia competed in 11 of 12 meets on the year.
RECORD-SETTING PERFORMANCE
Sophomore Sabrina Garcia swung into the Nittany Lion record books with her performance on the uneven bars in the 2017 season-opener.
Garcia recorded a career-best 9.950 on the uneven bars, which tied the No. 3 performance in school history.
Two weeks later, Garcia posted another 9.950 on the uneven bars against Maryland on Jan. 21.
As a team, the Nittany Lions tied the No. 10 performance in school history on the balance beam with a 49.300 at the Texas Woman's University quad meet on Feb. 19.
TSANG'S 35 TITLES
Junior Briannah Tsang has captured 27 individual titles and eight all-around titles in her Nittany Lion career.
Tsang opened up her junior year with three individual titles and the all-around title in a quad meet victory against Bowling Green, BYU and Temple on Jan. 7.
On the year, she has eight individual event titles and three all-around titles.
FIRST CAREER TITLES
Freshman Kristen Politz and sophomore Peyton Schuller both captured their first career title as Nittany Lions against Maryland on Jan. 21.
Politz and Schuller tied for the floor exercise title along with Sabrina Garcia against Maryland, as they all tallied a 9.825.
NEW NITTANY LIONS
Tess McCracken, Kristen Politz and Mikayla Waddell joined the Penn State women's gymnastics team in the fall of 2016 as freshmen.
McCracken is from Plano, Texas, while Politz (Morganville) and Waddell (Ridgewood) both call New Jersey home.
NITTANY LION DEBUTS
All three Nittany Lion freshmen have competed in at least one meet during the 2017 season.
Tess McCracken made her Nittany Lion lineup debut at Nebraska, Kristen Politz competed in the season-opener and Mikayla Waddell made her lineup debut in Blue & White at Illinois.
ALL-AROUND DEBUT
In her first career all-around, freshman Kristen Politz tallied a 39.050 to finish third at the Penn State-Nebraska meet.
On the day, Politz recorded a 9.875 on the uneven bars, a 9.625 on the vault, a 9.750 on the floor exercise and a 9.800 on the balance beam.
SIBSON RETURNS
After an injury plagued 2016, senior Emma Sibson made her return for the Nittany Lions in the season-opening quad meet. In her lone event of the day, Sibson tied for seventh on the vault with a 9.725.
A 2015 Second Team All-Big Ten honoree, Sibson owns eight career event titles. During her first two seasons at Penn State she competed in all 26 meets, which included tying for fifth-place on the vault at the 2015 Big Ten Championships (9.900).
PRESEASON POLL
The Penn State women's gymnastics team was selected 23rd in the 2017 National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W) Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The Nittany Lions closed out the 2016 season ranked No. 26.
Penn State will compete against eight programs that are ranked in the NACGC/W Preseason Coaches' Poll during the 2017 season.
HOME SWEET HOME
The 2017 slate features five home meets for the Nittany Lions inside Rec Hall. Penn State opens the 2017 campaign at home in a quad meet against Bowling Green, BYU and Temple on Jan. 7. The Nittany Lions return home two weeks later to host Maryland in a double dual with the Penn State men's program on Jan. 21.
The month of February features three home meets for the Blue & White with Michigan State (Feb. 4), Ohio State (Feb. 11) and Pittsburgh (Feb. 25) coming to town. All Nittany Lion home meets start are scheduled for Saturdays at 4 p.m.
STARTING OFF STRONG
Since the 1999 season, the Nittany Lions have started the season with a top-10 season-opening meet score. The Nittany Lions have tallied a season-opening top-10 score in each of the past three seasons.
Five of those scores have been recorded at home, with four others accomplished at the Super Six Challenge; 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007.
195.775 Morgantown, W.Va. 2012
195.075 University Park, Pa. 1999
194.875 University Park, Pa. 2006
194.850 Gainesville, Fla. 2005
194.800 University Park, Pa. 2009
194.675 University Park, Pa. 2015
194.625 University Park, Pa. 2017
194.600 Tuscaloosa, Ala. 2004
194.575 Fayetteville, Ark. 2007
194.375 Athens, Ga. 2003
SMART LIONS
Four Nittany Lions were honored by the Big Ten for their work in the classroom.
Nicole Medvitz, Christina Postiglione, Chanen Raygoza and Briannah Tsang were named to the 2016 Academic All-Big Ten team.
To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, students must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
BIG TEN GYMNAST TO WATCH
Prior to the start of the 2017 season, Briannah Tsang was named a Big Ten Gymnast to Watch.
Tsang tied for 38th overall on the floor exercise at the 2016 NCAA Championships with her score of 9.8125.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Penn State enjoys one of the most historic collegiate gymnastics venues in the country and they take pride in giving the home crowd something to cheer for, including a lot of wins.
Since 1975, Penn State owns a 232-59 overall record in home meets. The Nittany Lions are 229-59 at Rec Hall and are 3-0 in meets contested inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
The loss to North Carolina State on Jan. 9, 2016, snapped a seven-meet winning streak inside Rec Hall. The seven-meet winning streak was the fourth-best in program history.
Penn State swept its last two home meets in 2014 and was unblemished in its five home dates in 2015.
The longest unbeaten streaks in school history are as follows: (Streaks are listed by meets, not wins. Meaning if Penn State hosted three teams needed to be victorious vs. all three opponents to extend the streak.)
1977-82 28 meets
1999-2001 11 meets
1975-77 10 meets
2014-15 7 meets
2013-14/2009-10/2005 6 meets
2007/1992-93 5 meets
2011/1991/1986-87 4 meets
LOOKING AHEAD
The Nittany Lions head to Philadelphia, Pa., for a quad meet against Bridgeport, Penn and West Chester. The meet is slated for a 4:30 p.m. start on Sunday, March 5 inside the Palestra.