July 9, 2018
MERSIN, Turkey - Penn State men's gymnastics rising junior Sam Zakutney wrapped up his competition at the FIG World Cup Challenge in Mersin, Turkey this weekend with a second-place finish on the High Bar, and a fifth-place finish on the parallel bars for Team Canada.
The Ottawa, Ontario native scored a 12.40 on his routine in the qualifying round, finishing sixth to move to the finals for the high bar. In the finals, Zakutney polished his performance and scored a 13.5 to take silver in the event.
On the parallel bars, Zakutney put together a 13.95 performance in the qualifying round to move on to the finals where he finished fifth with an improved score of 14.00.
This was the first international competition for the Nittany Lions this summer as Zakutney will join Wyatt Tyndall, a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, native, at Canadian Final World Championships Trial over July 26-30 in Montreal, Canada.
Favian Valdez, a native of Kearny, New Jersey, will be representing Puerto Rico at the Central American Games in Barranquilla, Colombia over July 19-24. This marks the second-straight summer that Valdez will represent Puerto Rico at the Central American Games.