COLUMBUS, Ohio- Penn State men's gymnastics earns second place with its highest team score of the season 410.700 at Big Ten Championships. The Nittany Lions advance seven gymnasts to the individual event finals on Saturday night with representation in all six events.
"Really spirited effort from our team tonight, they fought all the way through," said head coach Randy Jepson. "We had a 97% hit ratio which is our best of the season. We are trending in the right direction and I like what I see. This is great momentum going into NCAA Championships on Friday and Saturday, April 14-15 in Rec Hall."
Penn State showcases four gymnasts in the all-around. Josh Karnes finished third with an 82.800 and Matt Cormier finished in fifth with an 82.050. Two other Nittany Lions competed in the all-around, Ian Raubal, who's score was 79.500 and Michael Artlip who scored a 78.750.
Penn State began on high bar with a 87.850, its second highest score of the season. Cormier led the way with a 13.950 to rank him sixth overall. Raubal joins Cormier to advance to the event finals tomorrow with his score of 13.800, good for a seventh-place rank.
A career high 14.400 for Karnes on floor led the Nittany Lions and ranked him fourth on the apparatus. Cormier's 14.100 will also move him to the second day of competition.
The reining Big Ten pommel horse Champion Chase Clingman finished fourth with a 13.650 which will compete once again tomorrow. He will be the lone Penn State competitor on the apparatus.
Raubal and Matt Underhill's notable routines on still rings landed them in the top-10 to advance to event finals. Underhill placed fourth with a 14.250 and Raubal finished tied for sixth with a 13.950.
Vault proved to be Penn State's strongest event of the night with all five scores above 14.000. The tough vault field will only allow Cormier to continue on with his score of 14.550. Ethan Dick matched a career high score of 14.350 and landed a stick bonus for a quality outing.
The Nittany Lions led the way on parallel bars with a 69.850, the highest score of the meet. The final score of the meet came down to this final rotation. Karnes completed the last routine of the meet with a 14.550, good for second-place, to propel Penn State past Illinois, Ohio State and Nebraska into second. Dick and Raubal tied for fifth with a 14.050 and Michael Artlip finished in eighth with a 13.700. Penn State will have the largest representation of any school on parallel bars with four gymnasts advancing to event finals.
