UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's gymnastics team (10-8, 3-6 Big Ten) will travel to No. 9 Auburn (5-6, 3-4 SEC) to take on the Tigers at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, March 10 for the Nittany Lions' final regular season meet.
The Nittany Lions enter their final regular season meet of the 2023 campaign coming off a huge home performance in which they tied the ninth-highest total score in program history with a 196.875 effort. The mark serves as head coach Sarah Brown's highest score during her Penn State tenure and is the highest mark by a Penn State squad since the 2016 season.
Ava Piedrahita once again led the Nittany Lions, picking up four event titles, including three career-high scores. Piedrahita's 9.925 on vault topped the Nittany Lion group and helped it earn a 49.375 on the apparatus, the highest vault score for a Penn State team since it put up the same total on March 14, 2015.
The Tigers enter as the No. 9 team in the country, with three events (vault, bars, floor) in the top ten, according to the RoadToNationals NQS rankings. Penn State has a 7-3 all-time record against the Tigers and will seek to take down a top-ten team for the first time since March 12, 2016.
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Live Results
LAST TIME OUT
Penn State got another boost in its vault rankings, while other marks dipped slightly heading into the final regular season meet of the year.
VAULT – No. 22
Piedrahita won her first event title of the night with a 9.925 on vault. Elina Vihrova and Maddie Johnston each tallied career-best 9.875s and Jessica Johanson and Isabella Salcedo each earned 9.85 scores, tying their season-bests. Overall, the Nittany Lions earned a 49.375 total, their best mark since March 14, 2015.
According to the RoadToNationals NQS rankings, Piedrahita jumped 14 spots to No. 18 on the vault in the NCAA this week and got bumped up one spot to No. 8 in the Big Ten on the apparatus.
BARS – No. 29
Gabbie Gallentine earned the event win on bars for the Nittany Lions with a 9.85. Johnston, Salcedo, and Cassidy Rushlow each earned 9.825s to boost the squad to a 49.100 event total.
Rushlow dropped a bit to No. 34 in the NCAA on the apparatus and is tied now for the No. 7 spot in the Big Ten in the RoadToNationals NQS rankings.
BALANCE BEAM – No. 33
Piedrahita, Rushlow, and Johnston all earned 9.875 scores on the balance beam, resulting in a three-way tie for the event title. The Nittany Lions finished with a 49.225 on the apparatus, their highest total on beam since February 27, 2021.
FLOOR – No. 46
On the floor for the final rotation, Piedrahita continued to surpass career-highs, earning her third event win of the night with a career-best 9.9. Vihrova and Johnston followed, each posting 9.85s. The team's 49.175 score was yet another season best.
All-Around
All four of Penn State's all-arounders from the Big Five Meet competed in all four events yet again, with Piedrahita and Johnston each setting a career best with a 39.425 total to tie for the all-around title. Rushlow's 39.275 set a season high, while Jessica Johanson tied her career high with a 39.200.
Piedrahita ranks as the No. 46 all-arounder in the country and the No. 10 all-arounder in the Big Ten heading into the final regular season meet of her freshman season.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Nittany Lions will begin their postseason slate by taking part in the 2023 Big Ten Championships, hosted by Iowa, on March 18.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateWomensGymnastics) and Twitter/Instagram (@pennstatewgym).
