UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Junior, all-around competitors Michael Artlip and Matt Cormier are named Big Ten Gymnasts to watch as they enter the 2023 season. Penn State ranks fourth in the Big Ten at the beginning of its campaign.
Artlip finished the 2022 season with a career high on high bar with a score of 13.950. This earned him the leading score for the Nittany Lions last season. He also had career highs in 2022 on floor (13.600), rings (13.050), vault (14.350) and parallel bars (13.100). The Texas native advanced to the final round of the 2022 NCAA Championships on vault and scored a 14.166 on the event finals day.
Artlip competed this summer at the U.S. Classic in Salt Lake City, Utah as well as at the U.S. Championships in Tampa, Fla.
Matt Cormier earned the title of captain in the spring of 2022. He posted career highs on pommel horse (12.300), rings (13.800), vault (14.700) and parallel bars (13.700) last season. He competed in the event finals at the 2022 NCAA Championship on floor, rings, vault and high bar. Cormier was named a CGA Regular Season All-American in the all-around. He finished tied for eighth on floor (14.333), tied for 14th on vault (14.433), 20th on high bar (13.466) and 36th on rings (13.133). He led the Nittany Lions with the highest score in the 2022 season on floor, vault and in the all-around.
The junior from Massachusetts competed on the national and international scale this past summer. He went to the U.S. Classic in Salt Lake City, Utah as well as the U.S. Championships in Tampa, Fla. where he clinched a spot on the Senior National Development Team
Cormier also competed in the Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge in Mersin, Turkey in October. He finished 15th on high bar, 16th on parallel bars and 18th on floor in the qualifiers at the World Cup.
Penn State will enter the 2023 season ranked fourth in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions first meet is Sunday, Jan. 7 at 4 p.m. in Rec Hall.
