March 10, 2017
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's gymnastics team begins its final stretch of the 2017 season this weekend as it heads to Iowa City, Iowa, for a Big Five Qualifier. In the Iowa City, Iowa, Big Five Qualifier, No. 36 Penn State takes on No. 16 Iowa, No. 11 Michigan, No. 34 Minnesota and Rutgers on Saturday, March 11, at 4 p.m. (EST) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Along with the Iowa City, Iowa, Big Five Qualifier, the Champaign, Ill., Big Five Qualifier features No. 19 Illinois, No. 32 Maryland, Michigan State, No. 13 Nebraska and No. 24 Ohio State. The top-three team finishers from each meet will advance to the evening session of the Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships, while the other four teams will compete in the morning session.
The Nittany Lions are coming off a season-best score of 196.200 at the Palestra last weekend in a quad meet against Bridgeport, Penn and West Chester.
Last weekend's meet featured the Nittany Lions tallying season-best scores on the vault, the uneven bars and the floor exercise. Penn State opened the meet with a 49.300 on the floor exercise, followed by a 48.975 on the vault, a 49.275 on the uneven bars and the Nittany Lions closed out the meet with a 48.650 on the balance beam.
Individually, three Nittany Lions brought home four event titles and the all-around title. Junior Briannah Tsang tied for the vault crown (9.875), won the floor exercise title outright (9.950) and she took the top spot in the all-around standings (39.425). Along with Tsang, Sabrina Garcia captured the uneven bars title (9.925) and Nicole Medvitz won the balance beam title (9.850).
In the all-time Penn State record books, Tsang tied the No. 5 performance in school history on the floor exercise with her score of 9.950 at the Penn Quad meet.
Saturday's competition marks the final regular season meet of the 2017 campaign and the Nittany Lions will head to Piscataway, N.J., for the 2017 Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships. Depending on their finish at Iowa, the Nittany Lions will either compete either at noon or 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 18.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow along with live stats on GoPSUsports.com. The meet will be shown live via BTN2Go.com and via tape delay on the Big Ten Network on Sunday, March 12, at 3 p.m. with Dean Linke and Alina Weinstein on the call. Fans must have an account to watch the BTN2Go.com feed.
ABOUT IOWA
Iowa enters the meet with an overall record of 12-5 and a record of 4-1 in Big Ten action. In the RQS standings, Iowa is 16th overall, and third in the Big Ten, with a 196.315.
Individually, Mollie Drenth leads the team in the all-around RQS with a 39.245, while Rose Piorkowski leads the Hawkeyes on the vault with a 9.815. Angel Metcalf has the top spot on the uneven bars (9.870) and the balance beam (9.860), while Melissa Zurawski and Clair Kaji lead the team on the floor exercise (9.875).
ABOUT MICHIGAN
Michigan heads into the weekend with an overall record of 8-3 and a record of 4-1 in Big Ten competition. In the RQS, Michigan is No. 11 in the nation, and the No. 1 team in the Big Ten, with a 196.595.
Individually, Emma McLean leads the team on the vault (9.885), Paige Zaziski has the best uneven bars RQS on the team (9.890), Talia Chiarelli and Lauren Marinez lead the team on the balance beam (9.875), while Nicole Artz leads the team on the floor exercise (9.935).
ABOUT MINNESOTA
The defending regular season Big Ten champions, Minnesota Golden Gophers have an overall record of 9-4 and sport a Big Ten record of 3-2. Minnesota is currently 34th nationally, and seventh in the Big Ten, with an RQS of 195.160.
Individually, Bailie Holst leads the team in the all-around with an RQS of 39.140 and on the uneven bars (9.860). Paige Williams has the best team RQS score on the vault (9.835), Ciara Gardner leads the team on the balance beam (9.860) and Bailey Abernathy has the best floor exercise RQS score (9.880) on the team.
ABOUT PENN STATE
Following last weekend's season-best score of 196.200, the Nittany Lions moved from No. 42 to No. 36 in the team RQS standings (195.020) and they rank eighth among Big Ten teams. On the year, Penn State is 9-6 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten action.
Individually, Briannah Tsang leads the team in the all-around (39.210), the vault (9.835) and the floor exercise (9.875). Also for the Nittany Lions, Sabrina Garcia leads the team on the uneven bars (9.885) and Nicole Medvitz leads the team on the balance beam (9.890).
ABOUT RUTGERS
Rutgers enters the meet with an RQS of 194.370, which ranks 46th in the nation and 10th in the Big Ten. Record-wise, Rutgers is 10-11 overall and 1-4 against Big Ten teams.
Individually, Libby Groden leads the Scarlet Knights in the all-around with an RQS of 38.895. Michelle Amoresano leads the team on the vault (9.765), Makenzey Shank and April Baker are tied for the team-lead on the uneven bars (9.775). Shank also leads the team on the balance beam (9.840), while Jenna Rizkalla leads the team on the floor exercise (9.825).
LAST YEAR'S BIG FIVE QUALIFIER
At last year's Big Five Qualifier at Rec Hall, Minnesota finished first with a 197.425, followed by Penn State (197.125), Michigan (196.875), Iowa (196.650) and Rutgers (194.550).
Junior Nicole Medvitz (Paramus, N.J.) highlighted the day for the Nittany Lions as she tied the fifth-best score in program history on the balance beam with a career-best 9.975 to place second.
Minnesota's Hannah Nordquist captured the balance beam title with a perfect 10.000 as the final gymnast of the day for the Golden Gophers.
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' 48.855 on the balance beam is tied for fifth in the Big Ten and ranks tied for 28th in the nation.
Individually, senior Nicole Medvitz is tied for 25th in the nation and ranks second in the Big Ten in the balance beam RQS with a 9.890.
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 10 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 four 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.
At the Penn Quad meet on March 5, junior Briannah Tsang tied the No. 5 performance in school history on the floor exercise with a career-best 9.950.
As a team on Feb. 19, 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.
TSANG'S 41 TITLES
Junior Briannah Tsang has captured 31 individual titles and 10 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 12 individual event titles and five 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 233-59 overall record in home meets. The Nittany Lions are 230-59 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 Big Five Qualifier meet on Saturday marks the final regular season competition for the Nittany Lions in 2017.
Up next for Penn State is the Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championship meet on Saturday, March 18. The morning session is slated for noon and the evening session is scheduled for 5 p.m.
The 2017 Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships are hosted by Rutgers at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, N.J.
The top-three team finishers from each Big Five Qualifier will compete in the night session of the Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships, while the remaining four teams will compete in the morning session.