March 20, 2017
ROSEMONT, Ill - Senior Leroy Clarke, Jr. (Maplewood, N.J.) and freshman Sam Zakutney (Ottawa, Ontario) swept the Big Ten Conference weekly awards with Clarke winning Big Ten Gymnast of the Week and Zakutney picking up his fourth Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor the conference announced Monday, March 20.
Clarke earns the award for the first time in his career and is the first Penn State gymnast of the week since Alexis Torres garnered the honor on March 16, 2015. Zakutney picks up freshman of the week honors for the fourth time this season after last winning it on Feb. 27, 2017.
Clarke picked up two individual event titles with a win on the pommel horse and a win on the high bar against Michigan. The senior competed in four events on the day, earning a podium finish in each. Clarke placed second on the still rings and nabbed a third-place finish on the parallel bars in the Nittany Lions victory.
Zakutney notched three first-place finishes for Penn State against Michigan with his first floor title, his fifth parallel bars title and his third all-around title. Zakutney also secured a podium finish on the high bar, placing third overall for the Blue and White.
Clarke, Zakutney and the rest of the Penn State men's gymnastics team will be back in action Saturday, March 25 when it closes out the 2017 regular season against Iowa inside the friendly confines of Rec Hall. The Nittany Lions and the Hawkeyes will square off at 3 p.m. with the meet slated to air live on the Big Ten Network.