UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 20-ranked Nittany Lions (6-5, 5-4 Big Ten) beat out No. 29-ranked Nebraska and No. 34-ranked Washington, falling just short of a sweep with a loss to No. 9-ranked Michigan. Finishing with a score of 197.225, the Blue and White had their second-highest total team score of the season and the fourth-highest team score in school history.
The Nittany Lions had a huge day on the balance beam as the team had the third-highest beam score in school history with three gymnasts who surpassed their career-high score and one who matched it. Their team score was the highest they have had all season beating their previous score of 49.350. They also performed well on the vault, getting their highest team score of the season with a 49.200. Top performers of the meet were Ashley Maul and Dani Latronica, both gymnasts who beat personal records today.
The Ann Carr award, which is given each meet to the gymnast who gives the most inspirational performance, was given to Jessica Johanson who had three outstanding performances on floor, bars, and vault.
FLOOR (49.250)
First up for the Nittany Lions was the floor exercise, where the Nittany Lions scored consistently above a 9.800. Elizabeth Leary and Ellie Monahan started Penn State off with scores of 9.800. The scores only went up from there with a pair of 9.850s from Amani Herring and Johanson. Kalea McElligott and Alyssa Kramer finished out the rotation with a pair of 9.875s. The 49.250 tallied by the Nittany Lions was the second-highest score of the year, just behind the Maryland meet.
VAULT (49.200)
On the vault, the Blue and White started the rotation off strong with three scores of 9.825 from Leary, Latronica, and Allison Kaempfer. The highest score for the Nittany Lions came from Johanson who put up a 8.875, closely followed by Ava Piedrahita with a 9.850. Ava Cash notched a 9.775 to round out the event. With the performance today, Penn State beat their season high of 49.150 on vault.
BARS (49.325)
The uneven bars was the third event for Penn State. The Nittany Lion effort was led by Leary and Cash who both matched their career-high scores with each grabbing a 9.900. Monahan beat out her career-high of 9.850 when she notched a 9.875 during her routine. Not far behind was Johanson with a 9.850, along with Piedrahita and Latronica who rounded out the rotation with a pair of 9.800s. The score tallied by the Blue and White was the third-highest of the season and the seventh bars rotation where the program has scored above a 49.200 during the 2026 campaign.
BEAM (49.450)
Over on beam, Monahan smashed another career-best with a score of 9.875, beating her previous high of 9.850. To continue with the theme, Maul also beat her personal best by notching a 9.950. McElligott matched her career-high with a score of 9.900, Herring was given a 9.725 and Kramer a 9.775. To finish off the beam, the Nittany Lions had yet another personal best beat as Latronica put up a 9.950. The 49.450 on balance beam was the third-highest score in Penn State women’s gymnastics history and the highest score tallied on the event since 2001.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on Ohio State, NC State, and Eastern Michigan University on Sunday, March 8th at 2:00 p.m. Looking ahead, the Big Ten Championships will be on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21 in Champaign, Illinois.
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateWomensGymnastics) and X/Instagram (@pennstatewgym).