Big Ten Network • Live Stats • Meet Notes
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 19 Penn State Nittany Lions (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) are headed westward to face the No. 20 Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City, Iowa, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday, February 21st at p.m. Saturday’s meet will be the first time that Penn State competes on linear television this year.
LAST TIME OUT
On the team’s senior day, the Nittany Lions recorded the team’s 11th consecutive meet with a score of 196.000 or higher. Penn State had a spectacular day on the bars event. With Dani Latronica, Ava Cash and Elizabeth Leary scoring a 9.900 or better, the Nittany Lions secured the fifth-highest bars score in program history with a 49.375, just shy of the mark set during the Maryland meet. The Blue and White also performed well on the floor exercise, securing the team’s fifth straight 49.000 or higher.
Cash continued her strong start to her freshman season by leading the Nittany Lions with a 9.825 on the vault and securing a 9.900 on bars. Latronica anchored the bars and beam routines with a 9.925 on bars and her third straight 9.900 on the beam, tied for her second-highest score on the apparatus this year. Leary, who earned the Ann Carr award, set a new season-high all-around score of 39.175 and scored a career-high 9.900 on the bars.
After the meet, Penn State honored Jessica Johanson, Amani Herring and Ava Piedrahita and managers Camryn Longenecker and Kate Leary for their time with the gymnastics program.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Penn State dropped in the rankings entering the weekend, ranked as the 19th-ranked team in the country. The Nittany Lions are the fifth-highest ranked team in the Big Ten behind UCLA, Michigan, Michigan State and Minnesota. The Blue & White have the 14th-ranked rotation nationally on bars and 16th on beam, the third-best in the Big Ten for bars and fifth on beam. The Nittany Lions are 23rd nationally on vault and 26th on the floor exercise.
Latronica leads Penn State’s bars routine with the 21st best score nationally and Elizabeth Leary checks in at 38th nationally in her bars event. The Lake Worth native, Latronica, also found herself in the beam national rankings at 19th in the NCAA and sixth in the Big Ten on both bars and beam. Kalea McElligott represent the Nittany Lions in the Big Ten rankings on floor checking in at 12th while Johanson is 15th in the Big Ten on the vault apparatus.
SERIES HISTORY
Penn State leads the all-time series over the Hawkeyes, 9-7. Iowa won the last meeting between the two programs at B1G Fours last season, 196.125-195.475, the last time that the Nittany Lions scored below a 196.000. During the Big Five Meet in 2024, Penn State was able to down the Hawkeyes, 196.775-196.100.
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateWomensGymnastics) and X/Instagram (@pennstatewgym).