Jan. 30, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 19 Penn State women's gymnastics team took second place in their second home meet of the season on Saturday when they hosted No. 1 Alabama and No. 23 Minnesota. Alabama took first with a 196.600, the Nittany Lions placed second with a season-high 196.025 and Minnesota took third with a 192.850.
Freshman Sharaya Musser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was Penn State's Ann Carr award winner. She was Penn State's top performer in all three of her events.
Alabama's Morgan Dennis took home the all-around crown with a score of 39.275. Sophomore Whitney Bencsko (Pompton Plains, N.J.) took second to lead Penn State with a season-high 39.200. Senior Brandi Personett (Katy, Texas) was fourth with a 38.350.
Penn State wowed the home crowd with season high scores on both balance beam and floor with 49.050 and 48.925 respectively. The Lions scored 49.225 on vault and a 48.825 on the uneven bars.
Musser and Personett led the Nittany Lions on vault both scoring a 9.900 for a three-way tie with Alabama's Dennis for second. Bencsko placed seventh with a 9.850, senior Casey Rohrbaugh (Spring Grove, Pa.) tied for eighth with a 9.800 and senior Rosie Smith (Waterford, Pa.) placed 10th with a 9.775. Alabama's Geralen Stack-Eaton took home the title with a 9.925.
Musser was Penn State's leader on bars with a second place finish and a score of 9.875. Sophomore Natalie Ettl (Waukesha, Wis.) finished tied for seventh with freshman teammate Madison Merriam (Gaithersburg, Md.) with a 9.800. Bencsko took ninth with a 9.775 and senior Alexandra Brockway (Macungie, Pa.) rounded out the Nittany Lion performers with a 9.575 for 14th. Alabama's Ashley Priess won the event with a 9.925.
Senior Allie Southard (Nanuet, N.Y.) and Musser tied for fourth on beam with a 9.825 to lead the Lions. Southard's score was a season-high. Sophomore Daryl Konsevick (Rutherford, N.J.), Bencsko and Personett all tied for sixth with a 9.800. Alabama's Priess took top honors with a 9.900.
Penn State closed out the meet on floor. Personett won the floor title with a 9.900, while Konsevick and Bencsko tied for fifth with a 9.775. Merriam finished tied for eighth with a 9.750 and Rohrbaugh tied for 10th with a 9.725.
The Nittany Lions are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 6 against Illinois. Action is set for 7 p.m. at home in Rec Hall. Live scoring will be available via a link at GoPSUsports.com.