UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — No. 25 Penn State women's gymnastics is set for its second-straight NCAA Regional competition as it will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on Alabama, Michigan, and Kent State in the first session of round two of the Michigan Regional at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 4.
Penn State looks to bounce back from a down week at the Big Ten Championships at this year's NCAA Regionals. Last season, the Nittany Lions set their regional program record with a 196.825 in the second round of the Pittsburgh Regional following its win in the play-in over Towson. Heading right into round two competition this year, Penn State hopes to hit the ground running in the Crisler Center on Thursday afternoon.
This season, the Nittany Lions achieved the highest regular season NQS in program history, entering postseason competition with a 196.825 total, which ranked 24th in the nation heading into conference championship weekend. Penn State also landed Ava Piedrahita on the All-Big Ten First Team while Kalea McElligott was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
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LAST TIME OUT
Even with a down week at the Big Ten Championships, the Nittany Lions have two event groups ranked inside the top 25 in the nation heading into regionals week.
VAULT — T-No. 21
Led by First Team All-Big Ten star Ava Piedrahita, Penn State's vault group slots in as the squad's strongest unit at 21st in the country. The Nittany Lions closed out the regular season strong on the apparatus and posted a 149.125 at the Big Ten Championships.
BARS — No. 34
Penn State's bars group has received contributions from different athletes all year, and the return of graduate student Cassidy Rushlow bolstered a strong squad at the Big Ten Championships as it looks to post another solid outing at the Michigan Regional.
BEAM — T-No. 23
The Nittany Lions' second-highest ranked event has, like bars, received contributions from quite a few members of the team. Five different Penn State gymnasts have earned 9.9-plus scores on the apparatus throughout the course of the year and 9.95 totals from Amani Herring and Isabella Salcedo show the potential star power of this Nittany Lion group heading into regionals.
A season-low score at Big Tens on beam leaves opportunity for a huge bounce-back in Michigan from the excellent Nittany Lion group.
FLOOR — No. 31
Herring has performed exceptionally well as the leader of Penn State's floor group. The sophomore has accumulated three 9.95 scores on the apparatus this season, becoming the first Penn State gymnast to accomplish that feat since 2010. Like beam, five different Nittany Lions have recorded 9.9-plus scores on floor, and have helped Penn State record its sixth-best floor total in school history this year, a 49.450 effort at NC State.
WHAT'S NEXT
Penn State will await the results of Thursday's regional second round to determine its path forward. The top two scoring teams from each session of Thursday's second round move on to the Regional Finals on Saturday. The top two teams from Saturday's final round qualify for the NCAA Championships.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateWomensGymnastics) and X/Instagram (@pennstatewgym).