Feb. 3, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's gymnastics team (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) begins a two-meet Big Ten homestand Saturday, Feb. 4, against the Spartans of Michigan State (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten). Saturday's meet is slated for a 4 p.m. start inside Rec Hall.
Saturday's meet is Penn State's annual Flip for the Cure meet. All fans are encouraged to wear pink and fans that wear pink can purchase tickets for $4 apiece.
Penn State is coming off a 195.625-193.250 loss at No. 21 Illinois last weekend. Against Illinois, Nicole Medvitz won her second balance beam title of the season and Briannah Tsang captured her third vault title of the season. Both gymnasts tallied season-best scores last weekend en route to their first-place finishes.
As a team, the Nittany Lions recorded a season-best score of 48.850 on the balance beam. The Nittany Lion balance beam lineup at Illinois included three freshmen, two sophomores and one senior.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with live stats and live video on GoPSUsports.com for free.
PROMOTIONS
- All fans encouraged to wear pink.
- Fans who wear pink and have not purchased tickets in advance will be able to purchase tickets for $4 apiece at the door.
- Pink shakers giveaway, while supplies last.
- Kids Zone - complimentary airbrush tattoo artist (2:30 - 4:30 p.m.).
- Post meet autographs with the team.
TICKET INFORMATION
Season ticket prices for the women's dual meets are $18 for adults and $12 for youth. The season tickets exclude the double dual meets on Jan. 21 and Feb. 11 where adult ticket prices are $6 and youth are just $4.
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.
REC HALL BAG POLICY
No backpacks or duffle bags are permitted during varsity athletic events, other athletic and non-athletic events at this venue. No bags or purses larger than 8.5"x11"x6" will be permitted. All other bags will be searched upon entrance to the facility.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
On the year, the Michigan State Spartans have an overall record of 3-3 and 0-3 in Big Ten action.
Last weekend, Michigan State finished second in a quad meet at Rutgers against Cornell, Rutgers and Urinus College.
Rutgers won the meet with a 194.875, followed by Michigan State (194.050), Cornell (193.525) and Urinus College (191.350).
The Spartans opened up their 2017 Big Ten slate with a 195.475-193.875 loss on Jan. 13 at Iowa. A week later, Minnesota topped Michigan State, 193.875-193.000, in East Lansing.
Among Big Ten teams, the Spartans rank eighth with their season average of 193.775.
Individually on the floor exercise, senior Kira Frederick ranks 10th with her season average of 9.831.
MICHIGAN STATE RANKINGS
Based on season averages, Michigan State ranks 42nd in team scoring (193.775), tied for 53rd on the vault (48.231), tied for 35th on the uneven bars (48.575), 33rd on the balance beam (48.444) and is 42nd on the floor exercise (48.525).
MICHIGAN STATE LEADERS
Based on season averages, Nicola Deans leads the team on the vault (9.787) and in the all-around (38.912).
Lindsey Lemke leads the team on the uneven bars (9.800), Hailee Westney leads the team on the balance beam (9.775), Kira Frederick leads the team on the floor exercise (9.831).
SERIES VS. MICHIGAN STATE
Penn State owns an 18-5 record against Michigan State in the regular season.
In last year's regular season meeting, the Nittany Lions topped the Spartans, 195.700-195.175.
At last year's meet, Sibson captured the vault title with a 9.825 in her lone meet of the 2016 season.
The Nittany Lions have won five-straight meetings in the regular season against the Spartans.
PENN STATE RANKINGS
Based on season averages, Penn State is 36th in team score (194.075), tied for 43rd on the vault (48.450), 21st on the uneven bars (48.800), 22nd on the balance beam (48.706) and 57th on the floor exercise (48.119).
PENN STATE LEADERS
Based on season averages, Briannah Tsang leads the Nittany Lions on the vault (9.838) and in the all-around (39.233).
Freshman Kristen Politz leads the team on the uneven bars (9.812), Mason Hosek leads the team on the balance beam (9.800) and Sabrina Garcia leads the team on the floor exercise (9.813).
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.
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.
TSANG'S 32 TITLES
Junior Briannah Tsang has captured 25 individual titles and seven 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 six individual event titles and a pair of 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.
THOMPSON CAPTURES WIN NO. 150
Head coach Jeff Thompson is in his 18th season as a collegiate head coach in 2017 and during the 2016 season he captured win No. 150. In his career, Thompson has a record of 161-109.
On Feb. 22, 2016, Penn State defeated Maryland, 196.350-195.350, for Coach Thompson's 150th career win.
In his seventh season at the helm of Penn State, Thompson has a record of 89-27. Prior to Penn State, the Highland Heights, Ky., native tallied a record of 72-82 at Auburn.
In 2014, the Nittany Lions owned a 20-3 regular season record and set a school record for regular season victories on March 15 in the Big Ten Quad in Ann Arbor.
The previous school record was held by the 2007 squad, which finished 19-4 and placed third at the NCAA Regional Championships.
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.
Three of the current top-10 scores have come under the watch of head coach Jeff Thompson.
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
THOMPSON IN ELITE COMPANY
Head coach Jeff Thompson headed back to the NCAA Championships for the second time as a head coach and his first as the leader of the Nittany Lions in 2014.
Thompson's first appearance at the national meet came with Auburn in 2003 and he led the Nittany Lions back to the national summit for the first time since the program went in 2009.
He is just the third head coach in NCAA history to navigate two different programs to the NCAA Championships, joining K.J. Kindler (Iowa State & Oklahoma) and Judi Markell (Penn State and Florida).
Thompson took Auburn to the championships during his fourth season at the helm of the program. The Tigers finished 12th at the 2003 NCAA Championships, posting a team score of 193.525.
The Highland Heights, Kentucky, native guided Penn State to their 18th appearance at the NCAA Championships in his fourth year, as well. The Blue and White finished 12th with a team score of 194.825.
MOLINARO, NILSON NAMED ASSISTANT COACHES
Following the conclusion of the 2016 season, head coach Jeff Thompson tabbed Kera Molinaro and Josh Nilson as assistant coaches with the Penn State women's gymnastics program.
Prior to the 2016 season, Molinaro was a volunteer assistant coach and she then served as an interim assistant coach during the 2016 season.
Nilson joined the PSU program after spending nine years at Utah State.
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 231-58 overall record in home meets. The Nittany Lions are 228-58 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
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.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Nittany Lions host their penultimate home meet of the season on Feb. 11 against Ohio State in a double dual format with the Penn State men's gymnastics team. The meet is slated for a 4 p.m. start.