UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Two Penn State Women's Gymnastics athletes are ready to compete in the NCAA Championships on Friday in Fort Worth. Freshman Jessie Bastardi and senior Sabrina Garcia will represent the Nittany Lions on the biggest stage in college gymnastics. Both qualified through their performances at the Ann Arbor NCAA Regional and will be part of Michigan's rotation for the championships. The two will compete during Friday's NCAA Team Semifinals, beginning at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Bastardi will be competing on balance beam after achieving a 9.900 in the regional, which placed her first in the Session I quad meet and third overall. Her 9.900 tied Meredith Hoover (2003) for Penn State's top beam score in the regional. Bastardi will be competing in the second rotation on Friday.
Garcia also earned a 9.900 on bars during the Ann Arbor Regional, tying for the top score in the meet and the fourth-best in the regional. She matched her 2017 score for PSU's top bars score in a regional. Garcia will join Michigan for its first rotation on Friday.
Bastardi qualified for the first NCAA Championships in her career after posting a 9.840 National Qualifying Score (NQS) before regional weekend. She competed in all 13 meets this season on beam, including a career-best 9.925 at Rutgers on February 9. The State College native has three beam scores of 9.900 or better this season and seven scores of 9.800 or better.
Garcia is set to compete in her second NCAA Championships after qualifying in all-around as a sophomore in 2017. The Etters, Pa. native competed in all 13 meets this year on bars, posting a 9.875 NQS. She owns five scores of 9.900 or better on bars this year, including a career-best 9.950 against Ohio State. The 2017 All-American won two bars event titles this season and recorded a 9.800 or better in every meet.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Sarah Brown, finished the season with a 10-9 dual record and a No. 24 ranking in the RoadToNationals standings. Penn State placed third in Session I of the Ann Arbor Regional, tallying a 195.750, its fifth-highest score of the season.
