UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State women's gymnastics senior Tess McCracken was named a nominee for the AAI Award, presented to the nation's outstanding senior. McCracken is one of 32 athletes on the nominee list. She has been a major contributor to the No. 28 Nittany Lions this season. She is one of seven representatives from the Big Ten.
This season, McCracken has Penn State's top beam score in two meets and top bars score in one meet. Last Friday at Illinois, McCracken tied with Lauren Bridgens for the bars title with a 9.825. She led the Nittany Lions on beam against West Virginia (9.875) and Nebraska (9.825).
The Plano, Texas native has collected four scores above a 9.800 on bars, three above a 9.800 on beam and two above a 9.800 on floor. She tied a career-high 9.850 on floor against Iowa. She has a season-high 9.850 on bars and a season-best 9.875 on beam.
A science major, McCracken has performed very strong in the classroom, being named an Academic All-Big Ten selection, a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and an NACGC/W Scholar-Athlete each of the last two years. She has qualified for the Dean's List five times.
McCracken has been a member of the Athletic Directors Leadership Institute (ADLI) since August 2017. The ADLI is made up of student athletes nominated by coaches to attend monthly leadership development seminars, focusing on style and execution. McCracken has graduated through the Emerging Leader and Veteran Leader programs to the 360 Leader program designed for senior student-athletes.
She has also been a key member of team community service efforts, including Toys for Tots, Fit for Fritz and reading at local elementary schools.
Penn State, led by Head Coach Sarah Brown, is set to compete at No. 26 Ohio State on Friday. The meet is scheduled for 6 p.m. with a broadcast on BTN Plus.
