University Park, Pa. — Penn State sophomore Felix Aronovich (Kiryat Bialik, Israel) has been named NCAA Gymnast of the Week by the College Gymnastics Association. He received the national honor for his strong performance in the Nittany Lions’ 353.500-342.500 victory over Big Ten rival Ohio State last weekend at Rec Hall.
Aronovich is the fourth different Penn State gymnast in the last two weeks to be recognized for competitive excellence and contributions to the Lions’ undefeated start to the 2011 season. This Monday, redshirt junior Warren Yang (Nepean, Ont.) was honored as Big Ten Gymnast of the Week following the lead of sophomore Parker Raque (Louisville, Ky.) and redshirt freshman Francisco Vazquez (San Juan, P.R.), who were tabbed Big Ten Co-Gymnast and Freshman of the Week, respectively, on Feb. 21.
Versus the Buckeyes, Aronovich was instrumental in helping Penn State post a team high score for the sixth time this season and up its dual meet record versus conference opponents to 3-0. Competing for the first time this year in the all-around, the 2010 Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year recorded a career high score of 86.500. Aronovich tied for first in the parallel bars and placed third in the high bar en route to the personal best.
[NOTE: WATCH THE BIG TEN NETWORK BROADCAST OF PENN STATE’S WIN OVER OHIO STATE ON SAT., MARCH 5 AT 9:30 A.M.]
After an eventful offseason, which saw him compete for his native Israel at the 2010 World Championships, Aronovich has been brought along slowly but is gradually increasing his workload and step to the forefront for Penn State. He leads the Nittany Lions, ranking nationally in four events – pommel horse, still rings, parallel bars, and high bar. Aronovich, who has totaled 13 top three finishes, has tied or set new personal bests in four events this season. His parallel bars score of 15.400 at a tri-meet at Temple on Jan. 30 ranks third in the Penn State record book.
The Nittany Lions begin a three-meet road swing to finish out the regular season this weekend when they travel to Minneapolis to take on host No. 8 Minnesota and No. 9 Iowa on Sat., March 5 (8 p.m. ET) at the Gophers’ Sports Pavilion. The conference tri-meet will be broadcast by the Big Ten Network on a tape delay basis, with the airing of the competition set for Sat., March 12 at 12 p.m.