UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men's gymnastics junior Stephen Nedoroscik has been named to the 12-man roster for the U.S. Men's Senior National Team through the 2019 U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Kansas City, Mo.
Nedoroscik heads to Doha, Qatar over March 20-23 to compete in the 12th annual Artistic Gymnastics World Cup as part of Team USA.
"I've had this image in my head for the past year and a half, ever since my first USA's," Nedoroscik said after earning his first chance to wear the Red, White & Blue. "This year I knew it was crucial for me to be perfect in my routines at Winter Cup if I wanted any hope at making national team at all. I put the work in, visualized thousands of times, and never once thought about failure. This competition opens doors to other international competitions if I do well, with enough medals and points, I put myself in a great place for the Olympics."
Nedoroscik was selected by the Men's Program Committee after his win on pommel horse at the 2019 Winter Cup Challenge this weekend. Nedoroscik's combined score for the weekend was 30.150, over a point and a half better than the second-place finisher at 28.500 in national team member Sam Mikulak. In the prelims, Nedoroscik scored a 15.150, and followed it up with a 15.000 in the finals. He was the only athlete to score a 15.00-plus on the pommel all meet.
"Stephen was the class of the field on pommel horse this weekend [at Winter Cup]," head coach Randy Jepson said of Nedoroscik. "All of his hard work is paying off. We have seen the potential for him to be a world level competitor and he has now demonstrated that by his selection to go to Doha, Qatar for the World Cup. We are excited that he gets this opportunity, and it is the first step towards Olympic qualifications for Stephen."
Alumni Trevor Howard (2013-16) will also be heading to Doha as well after winning the rings both in prelims and finals.
Newly named national team member @GymnastSteve took home the pommel horse gold medal at #WinterCup! He had not one, but TWO scores above 15 to take the title. pic.twitter.com/apUF3Boa5K
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) February 18, 2019