UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Sophomore Michael Jaroh won three individual events, but Penn State men's gymnastics came up just short as a team, dropping its Big Ten opener to Illinois, 397.250-396.550 Saturday at Rec Hall.
Penn State dropped to 10-1 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten. Illinois improved to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference.
Jaroh had a big meet for the Nittany Lions, winning outright on rings with a score of 14.05 and on parallel bars with a score of 13.8. He scored a season-best 13.6 on pommel horse while tying for first with teammate Chase Clingman. Jaroh added a runner-up finish on vault while posting Penn State's best score (14.55) of the season in the event, and was third on high bar.
"We had some great performances today," Penn State head coach Randy Jepson said. "Michael Jaroh was on fire and crushed it. Guys were solid all the way through the lineup."
Clingman's event win on pommel horse was his second of the season, adding to his first-place finish in the season opener against Army. His score of 13.6 was a personal best.
Rounding out Penn State's top-three finishers were redshirt junior Eric Lung (second on floor), senior Kaleb Booth (third on floor), sophomore Ethan Dick (third on parallel bars) and sophomore Matt Cormier (third on vault and third on high bar).
Penn State's team score was its highest of the season by nearly three points. The Lions posted season-best scores on vault (71.65), high bar (64.4) and pommel horse (65.6).
The Penn State-Illinois meet has been decided by less than one point in two straight seasons. The Lions won last year's matchup 399.300-399.150.
Up next for Penn State is a Big Ten meet at Nebraska on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The Cornhuskers are 3-3 following losses to the three of the top teams in the country – Stanford, Oklahoma, and Michigan.
