UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 23 Penn State women's gymnastics team travels to Ann Arbor to compete in NCAA Regionals from April 5-6. The Nittany Lions are set to compete in Friday's Session I quad meet at 2 p.m. with No. 10 Alabama, No. 26 Ohio State and the host, No. 7 Michigan. The meet will be broadcast on FloGymnastics.
The top two teams will advance to Saturday's quad meet and will face the top two teams from Friday's Session II: No. 2 UCLA, No. 14 Nebraska, No. 27 West Virginia and the winner of Thursday's dual meet between No. 29 Illinois and No. 30 Central Michigan.
After Saturday's quad meet, the top two finishers will advance to the NCAA Semifinals on April 19 in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Nittany Lions, led by Head Coach Sarah Brown, finished fifth in the Big Ten Championships on March 23, tallying a 196.125. Penn State earned a 49.275 on both bars and floor. Four Nittany Lions achieved career highs on floor and two earned season-high totals on bars. PSU owns a 196.070 Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) heading into regionals, its highest since 2015.
Follow the action on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateWomensGymnastics) and Twitter/Instagram (@pennstatewgym).
SCOUTING THE REGIONAL
Michigan is coming off its sixth straight Big Ten Championship title, is ranked highest in the Big Ten in the RoadToNationals rankings at No. 7. The Wolverines rank sixth in the nation on vault, 10th on bars, sixth on beam and eighth on floor.
Freshman Natalie Wojcik is the Wolverines' top performer in three events, ranking sixth in the nation in all-around, third on vault and seventh on beam. Olivia Karas paces Michigan on bars, ranking 19th on bars, and floor, ranking 16th.
No. 10 Alabama sits No. 9 on vault, No. 15 on bars, No. 11 on beam and No. 7 on floor. Lexi Graber leads the Crimson Tide, holding No. 24 in the country in all-around, No. 21 on vault and No. 18 on beam. Emily Gaskins paces Alabama on bars, while Ariana Guerra leads the team on floor.
No. 26 Ohio State ranks 29th in the RoadToNationals standings on vault, 19th on bars, 25th on beam and 42nd on floor. Jamie Stone owns the team's best RQS scores in all-around, beam and floor. Jenna Swartzentruber leads the team on bars and Olivia Aepli paces the squad on vault. Morgan Lowe is tied with Stone on beam.
UCLA is No. 2 in the RoadToNationals rankings after winning the Pac-12 title. The Bruins sit No. 3 in the nation on vault, No. 1 on bars, No. 2 on beam and No. 1 on floor. Kyla Ross leads the nation in all-around, vault and bars while ranking third on beam and fourth on floor. Katelyn Ohashi leads the nation on floor and sits No. 2 on beam.
No. 14 Nebraska sits 14th in the country on vault, 16th on bars, 19th on beam and 11th on floor. Sienna Crouse holds 19th in the nation in all-around and 22nd on floor. Taylor Houchin is No. 14 on bars.
No. 27 West Virginia ranks 21st in the country on vault, 34th on bars, 42nd on beam and 15th on floor. Kirah Koshinski sits seventh in the country on vault and leads the team on floor.
No. 29 Illinois is 30th in the country on vault, 23rd on bars, 17th on beam and 32nd on floor. Mary Jane Otto paces the squad in all-around, bars and beam, ranking 23rd in the nation on bars.
Central Michigan is No. 30 in the RoadToNationals rankings. Denelle Pedrick paces the team in all-around, vault, beam and floor.
B1G CHAMPIONSHIP MEET RECAP
The Nittany Lions tallied a 196.125, their highest Big Ten Championships score since 2016. Penn State finished fifth overall, behind Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska and Minnesota. PSU scored higher than Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan State, Maryland and Rutgers.
PSU started the evening session with a 49.275 on floor, its second-highest tally of the season. Three Nittany Lions earned a 9.875. Alissa Bonsall and Lauren Bridgens equaled career highs with their 9.875 and Melissa Astarita matched their score. Mason Hosek tied her career-best with a 9.850 and Erynne Allen had a career-high 9.800.
The Nittany Lions also achieved a 49.275 on bars, the blue and white's second-best tally this year. Bridgens finished fourth overall, tying a season-best with a 9.925. Three PSU athletes earned a 9.850, including Bonsall, Sabrina Garcia and Kristen Politz, who set a season-high.
PSU earned a 48.775 on both vault and beam. On vault, Bonsall led the Nittany Lions with a 9.800. Bridgens paced PSU on beam, earning a 9.825. In all-around, Bridgens finished with a 39.350.
NATIONALLY RANKED NITS
As a team, Penn State currently ranks 17th in the nation on bars, with a 49.220 RQS, and ranks among the Top 30 on three events.
On bars, Bridgens is tied for 33rd in the nation, and ranks eighth in the Big Ten, with a 9.900 RQS. Garcia is tied for 49th in the country and ninth in the conference with a 9.875 RQS.
In all-around, Bridgens is fifth in the Big Ten and 27th in the nation with a 39.370 RQS, while Garcia is tied 62nd nationally and sits 13th in the Big Ten with a 39.085 RQS.
BRIDGENS, GARCIA COLLECT B1G HONORS
Lauren Bridgens and Sabrina Garcia were named All-Big Ten selections on Monday.
Bridgens earned first-team honors for the second straight year, becoming the 56th first-team All-Big Ten selection in program history and the 15th athlete to earn multiple first-team nods.
She is currently 27th in the nation in all-around and No. 33 on bars. Bridgens owns seven event titles this season, while establishing career highs in all-around, beam and floor. She has five scores of 9.900 or higher on bars this year.
Garcia garnered her third career All-Big Ten selection, being named to the second team. She was a first-team selection in 2017 and second team in 2018. She was one of 25 nominees for the AAI Award, given to the nation's most outstanding senior.
She sits 49th in the country on bars, ninth in the Big Ten, while collecting five event titles. She has four bars totals of 9.900 or above this season.
SETTING THE BAR
Penn State has enjoyed a strong effort on bars this season, ranking 17th in the nation, with a 49.220 RQS.
The Nittany Lions have posted nine scores of 49.000 or above this year, led by its 49.300 in the Quad Meet. That followed a 49.250 at the Big Five Meet.
PSU has accomplished a 49.000 or above in five straight meets, including the Big Five Meet, the Quad Meet, a 49.200 at Florida, a 49.125 at the WVU Quad Meet and a 49.275 at the Big tne Championships
Senior Sabrina Garcia has PSU's top score on bars, a career-high 9.950 against Ohio State, one of her four scores above a 9.900. Sophomore Lauren Bridgens had a season-best 9.925 against Florida and matched that in the Big Ten Championships. Junior Tess McCracken had a career-high 9.900 vs. Ohio State and sophomore Alissa Bonsall matched Bridgens' 9.900 at the Big Five Meet.
STRONG ON FLOOR
The Nittany Lions have also enjoyed a solid year on floor, also achieving a 49.000 or above in eight meets, led by their 49.350 in the home quad meet.
Penn State also earned a 49.000 or above against Temple/Towson (49.025), Ohio State (49.000), Minnesota (49.275), Illinois (49.075), at the Big Five Meet (49.000), at Florida (49.025) and in the Big Ten Championships (49.275).
Freshman Melissa Astarita holds the blue and white's top mark on floor with a 9.900 against Temple and Towson. She matched that score in the quad meet. Garcia's season-best 9.875 came against Illinois and at the Big Five Meet, while Alissa Bonsall and Lauren Bridgens each had a career best-tying 9.875 in the Big Ten Championships.
EVENT TITLES
As a team, Penn State has won 16 event titles this season. PSU has won five titles on floor, five on bars, four on beam and two on vault. The Nittany Lions have won 18 individual event titles, including five all-around.
Sophomore Lauren Bridgens has won seven individual titles: all-around against Ohio State (39.300), at the Big Five Meet (39.425) and in the quad meet (39.400), vault against Minnesota (9.900) and bars at the Big Five Meet (9.900), at Florida (9.925) and at the WVU Quad Meet (9.875).
Senior Sabrina Garcia has earned five individual titles this year, including bars against Temple/Towson (9.900) and Ohio State (9.950) as well as a floor title (9.875) and all-around title against Illinois (39.250) and all-around at Rutgers (39.325).
Freshman Melissa Astarita has won two floor titles, while sophomore Alissa Bonsall owns two bars titles against Illinois (9.850) and at the Big Five Meet (9.900). Four Nittany Lions have at least one event title.
Sophomore Alissa Bonsall