CORALVILLE, Iowa. – The Penn State women's gymnastics team (10-9, 3-6 Big Ten) scored a 196.200 in session I of the 2023 Big Ten Championships on Saturday afternoon at Xtream Arena. The score is the Nittany Lions' best since it scored a 196.725 at the event in 2015.
"The B1G conference is so strong and I'm really proud of the amount of fight we should throughout the meet today," said head coach Sarah Brown. "This was our first opportunity on podium this year and I'm really happy with how the team responded. We have some details to fine tune in order to continue to move through the postseason, but overall I'm really happy with how our team performed."
The squad scored 49+ on three out of four events en route to its fantastic overall score. Penn State finished the afternoon in seventh place in the conference, ahead of No. 25 Iowa (196.125), No. 22 Maryland (195.900), and Rutgers (195.125).
No. 2 Michigan took the team title with a 198.000 total, followed by No. 9 Michigan State (197.550) and No. 20 Minnesota (197.250).
ROTATION RECAP
Penn State began the afternoon on vault, scoring a 49.000 and securing their fifth 49+ in a row as a team on the apparatus. A pair of 9.85s from Ava Piedrahita and Jessica Johanson (matched season-best) led the way, followed by a 9.825 from Maddie Johnston, her fourth 9.825+ of the year.
Following the first of Penn State's two bye rotations, the Nittany Lions showed out on bars. With a 9.925, bars anchor and senior leader Cassidy Rushlow earned her fifth 9.925 of the season on the apparatus to lead her team. Rushlow pushed Penn State to a 49.250, its highest bars score in the Big Ten Championships since 2019 and its third-best of the 2023 season. Gabbie Gallentine's 9.875 and a 9.85 from Johnston bolstered a fantastic rotation for the Nittany Lions.
On the balance beam, Penn State shrugged off the struggles of previous seasons and posted a 48.925, good for the team's best beam score in the Big Ten Championships since 2016. The Nittany Lions were led by a 9.875 from Isabella Salcedo, her fourth 9.875+ of the season. Johnston (9.825) and Haleigh Gibble (9.8) rounded out Penn State's top three scorers on the apparatus.
The Nittany Lions finished strong on the floor, posting a 49.025 to close out competition in session I. Salcedo and Johanson each posted 9.85s, followed by a 9.8 by Piedrahita.
The Nittany Lions had four all-arounders once again, with Johnston and Piedrahita leading the way with a 39.250 and a 39.175, respectively.
WHAT'S NEXT
The 2023 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship teams, all-around competitors, and individual event specialists will be announced on Monday, March 20, 2023, prior to regional competition beginning on March 29. The top 36 teams based on national qualifying score (NQS) will be selected for regional competition. The NCAA selection committee will identify the top 16 teams and seed them in the bracket. Teams 17-36 will be placed geographically at one of the four regional sites. All host teams stay home to compete, whether they are a top-16 seed or not. The top 12 all-around competitors and top 16 event specialists will be selected based on national qualifying scores and will be placed geographically, keeping individuals from the same team together.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateWomensGymnastics) and Twitter/Instagram (@pennstatewgym).
