PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Penn State women's gymnastics team opened up the 2022 season with a first place finish at the Keystone Classic on Friday.
"There is so much to be proud of tonight," Head Coach Sarah Brown said. "First off, we're so grateful to have had the opportunity to compete and appreciate Penn State's support and guidance in keeping our athletes safe. Thank you to Temple for hosting the first meet of 2022."
Penn State claimed individual titles in all four events and team titles in three events. The team's 194.275 score is its highest opening meet team score since 2019. Temple finished second with a score of 193.450 and Penn finished third with a team score of 191.300.
"We had a lot of energy in our first rotation on floor and I was happy to see a few new faces in each line up. Our vaults were strong, our bars were electric and the team stuck together the entire night. We had some uncharacteristic mistakes on beam, but to be honest tonight was a great starting point for us. We haven't had fans in the arena in nearly two years and it was so fun to hit the road with such an awesome group of young women. I'm so proud of the work our staff and managers did leading up to, and during the meet and I know we can only go up from here!"
The highest score of the day came on bars, where Penn State picked up where they left off in 2021 with a score of 49.225. Fifth year seniors Alissa Bonsall and Lauren Bridgens shared the event title with matching scores of 9.900. It marked Bridgens' first competition since the end of the 2020 season as she missed the 2021 season due to an injury.
The Nittany Lions also delivered a strong performance on vault with a score of 48.725. Freshman Jessica Johanson kicked off her collegiate career with an event winning score of 9.825.
Penn State also topped the leaderboard on floor, with freshman Isabella Salcedo posting a 9.825 to lead Penn State to a share of the team event title. Melissa Astarita claimed a share of the title on beam with a 9.800.
"It was so great to see Lauren out there again competing in the all-around," Brown said. "We're excited to have Kourtney Chinnery back in the vault lineup and to have Maggie Mace in the lineup for the first time on bars! Jessie and Isabella each had great nights and will have bright futures here at Penn State."
The Nittany Lions return home next Friday for the team's first home meet with fans in the stands since 2020 when the team hosts Yale.
