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March 11, 2017
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Penn State women's gymnastics team tallied its fifth-highest score of the 2017 season en route to a third-place finish at the Big Five Qualifier at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena Saturday afternoon. With Penn State's third-place finish Saturday, the Nittany Lions will now compete in the evening session of the Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships next weekend.
"The ladies showed a lot of heart today," interim co-head coach Kera Molinaro said. "After a little bit of a shaky start first rotation on the uneven bars, they came back and hit on the balance beam, floor exercise, and vault. The team showed a lot of mental toughness to be able to come back and finish third to secure a spot in the evening session at next week's Big Ten Championships. We will get back in the gym this week and clean up a few things but this gives us great momentum heading into next week."
In the team standings, No. 11 Michigan finished first (197.150), followed by No. 16 Iowa (196.400), No. 36 Penn State (195.450), No. 34 Minnesota (194.825) and Rutgers (192.650).
Individually for the Nittany Lions, senior Nicole Medvitz (Paramus, N.J.) brought home the balance beam title for the seventh time this season with her score of 9.900 Saturday. Medvitz tied with Iowa's Mollie Drenth for the event title.
With Saturday's competition being a five-team meet, Penn State opened the afternoon on the uneven bars, followed by the balance beam, a bye and then the Nittany Lions closed out the meet on the floor exercise and the vault.
The Nittany Lions opened the meet with a 48.575 on the uneven bars, as a pair of Nittany Lions tallied top-10 finishes. On the uneven bars for Penn State, sophomore Sabrina Garcia (Etters, Pa.) tied for fifth overall with her score of 9.875 and Medvitz tied her career-best score of 9.850 to tie for eighth-place.
The second rotation featured the Nittany Lions post their second-highest balance beam score of the year with a 49.125. For the Nittany Lions on the balance beam, Medvitz led the charge as she tied for the event title with her score of 9.900.
Also for the Nittany Lions on the balance beam, junior Briannah Tsang (Vancouver, British Columbia) finished third (9.875), while sophomore Mason Hosek (Pearland, Texas) and freshman Kristen Politz (Morganville, N.J.) tied for 11th-place with their scores of 9.800.
Following a bye in the third rotation, the Nittany Lions recorded a 48.925 on the floor exercise and they closed out the meet with a 48.825 on the vault.
During the final two rotations, Garcia and Tsang finished in the top-10 on the floor exercise and the vault. On the floor exercise, Tsang tied for fourth (9.875) and Garcia tied for seventh with a 9.850. The vault featured Garcia and Tsang tie for ninth-place, as they each tallied a 9.800.
In the all-around, Tsang tied for fifth with her score of 39.000.
The Iowa Big Five Qualifier will be shown via tape delay on the Big Ten Network on Sunday, March 12, at 3 p.m. (EDT)
The Nittany Lions will now compete in the 5 p.m. session of the 2017 Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships on Saturday, March 18. The meet is hosted by Rutgers at the Rutgers Athletic Complex in Piscataway, N.J.