University Park, Pa. — In the second ever Big Ten preseason gymnastics poll, league coaches voted the Penn State women’s gymnastics team to finish third in the standings in 2011. Two members of the Nittany Lion squad were also selected to a 14-member Gymnasts for Watch list.
Michigan was picked as the favorite to win the Big Ten in 2011 and Illinois was slotted to finish second. Following Penn State are Iowa, Minnesota and Michigan State with Ohio State rounding out the poll.
"I like where we are," said head coach Jeff Thompson. "It’s going to be fun proving ourselves and gaining confidence with each and every meet. I am ready to see our team compete and watching them in front of 14,000 Alabama fans to open the season will tell us a lot. When we face the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Big Ten the following weekend, it’s going to be easy to see if the poll got it right."
Penn State closed out last season with a second-place performance at the Big Ten Championships, followed by a third-place finish at the NCAA Regionals. Former Nittany Lion Brandi Personett and current sophomore Sharaya Musser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) both advanced to the NCAA National Championships in the all-around. Musser, the 2010 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and her classmate Madison Merriam (Gaithersburg, Md.) were both named Gymnasts to Watch for the 2011 season.
Musser garnered First Team All-America status on vault and in the all-around, while earned Second Team All-America laurels on beam and floor. She went on to compete in the NCAA Championship Individual Event Finals on vault. Musser was a three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week and was named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week, as well. Merriam competed in 12 of 13 meets for the Nittany Lions in 2010, including six meets in the all-around.
The Penn State women’s gymnastics team, which debuted at 14th in GymInfo Preseason Coaches Poll, hosts four home meets in Rec Hall in 2011, including two double-duals with the Nittany Lion men’s team. The Nittany Lions open 2011 facing one of the top teams in the nation with a meet at Alabama on Jan. 7. From there the team travels to Michigan on Jan. 14 for a tri-meet with Illinois before returning to Happy Valley for its home opener against New Hampshire in a double-dual with the Nittany Lion men.
