The 2009 Penn State women's gymnastics squad will be young but experienced. There are no seniors on the roster but the returning gymnasts performed 22 of the 24 routines in every meet last year. Headlining the returning core is junior Brandi Personett, a 2008 All-American on beam and a two-time defending Big Ten All-Around Champion who has also claimed the league's titles twice on the vault and once on the floor. Also returning is junior Alexandra Brockway who last season earned Second Team All-Big Ten status and finished third on bars at the league meet with a season-high 9.900.
With the strong returning core and a group of talented newcomers added into the mix, the 2009 women's gymnastics season should be an exciting one for the Nittany Lions.
Vault
According to head coach Steve Shephard, who is in his 17th year at the helm of the squad, vault should be a strong event for the team. The Lions return Personett and Brockway along with juniors Rosie Smith and Casey Rohrbaugh and sophomores Danielle Hover and Kristina Beck.
"All of our returners have 10.0 start values and should be very competitive," said Shephard. "The main emphasis for these returning vaulters will be to improve on their landings from last year while also focusing on increasing execution and amplitude."
The vault team also gains the services of junior Allie Southard, who spent much of last season recovering from a back injury, and welcomes freshmen Whitney Bencsko and Alex Stine into the mix.
"This event should feature some high scores," stated Shephard. "Whitney is an outstanding vaulter with a huge Yurchenko Full and she should make an immediate impact on this event. We should be able to score 49.0 plus consistently this year on vault."
Uneven Bars
The bars team returns everyone from last season's lineup that scored a season-high 49.150 at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships at Rec Hall, and adds Bencsko in addition to freshmen Natalie Ettl, Daryl Konsevick and Alex Stine.
"We should be even better on bars this year," said Shephard. "Our main concern on this event is that we need Lindsey Montross and Natalie Ettl to have healthy enough knees to be able to take a landing on a dismount. Montross is making good progress on her recovery from off-season knee surgery. Once she gets her strength back she should be able to land. Her surgery was in May and should be able to train hard at the beginning of season. Natalie is great on bars and we are hopeful that she can make an impact here if we can get her knee healthy enough to take a landing. Daryl is strong on bars, but the question of her consistency will be the critical factor in whether she makes the line up. She has a great skills and good form, she just needs to get more solid in her consistency of performing her routine in practice. Whitney has two huge release moves on bars and will be a thrill for our Rec Hall crowd!! Casey is still having trouble with her dismount, and if she gets it up to where we need it, she could be a high scorer as well. Alex Stine also has the potential to be a factor in the bars lineup. She is training Giant Full to a Geinger and a giant full to a double fly away. If she can get those two sequences consistent she will make an impact on bars."
Balance Beam
The beam squad is another group who will enjoy a similar core of returners from last season, anchored by Personett, who finished fifth in the country.
"Everyone who is back is better than ever," said Shephard. "Hopefully this experienced beam team will be a force to reckon with. They have the ability to compete with anyone in the country on this event. Brandi returns as a First Team All American and Brockway returns as our anchor. Alex (Brockway) is looking better than ever, her form has improved and she has proven her ability to lead the team on beam. Alex and Brandi will be our `one-two' punch, and with the additional depth that is added with the freshmen class and the return of Allie Southard from injury, this event could be the one that closes the deal for us in a close meet."
Floor Exercise
One of the two seniors from last year's squad, Aslynn Satterfield, was a Second Team All-Big Ten selection and averaged a 9.821 on floor for the season. The Nittany Lions will be looking to replace her consistency and high scores. Penn State returns Personett, Rohrbaugh, Smith, Beck, McElwee, Klein and Brockway, all who saw competitive action last season, along with Southard, who will also look to make an impact.
"We have great difficulty in our tumbling and (assistant coach) Jess (Bastardi) has choreographed some new routines for our floor team. We bring in Whitney, Daryl and Stine, all of whom are floor workers. Alex Brockway has returned with a renewed vigor and better strength in her tumbling. Brandi is better than ever, along with Rosie and Casey who haven't missed a beat returning in top form. This should be a strong event for us. Whitney has competed a Piked full in, and will be one of our strongest floor workers."