MEN’S GYMNASTICS
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Still rings specialist Scott Rosenthal of Clearfield helped No. 4-ranked Penn State win the West Point Open team title for the 14th consecutive time Friday night in Christl Arena and then placed second behind teammate Miguel Pineda in the individual finals Saturday night.
The Nittany Lion sophomore’s 16.100 performance, second in program history only to the 16.300 he posted in the season opener against Army Jan. 14, keyed a one-two-three rings sweep by Penn State in the team competition.
Led by the rings quartet’s 60.900 score, Penn State won every event and recorded a season-high 352.000 to leave the other six teams far behind. Temple’s 342.300 was second-best, and host Army took third with a 326.200.
Scores were lower during the individual finals, Pineda claiming the rings title with a 15.100 and Rosenthal right behind with a 15.000.
Nittany Lions won all of the individual titles, a first for the 21-year invitational.
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FOOTBALL
LOCK HAVEN – Clarion seniors Shawn Sopic (football) of Curwensville and Rhianon Brady (women’s volleyball) have received Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference “Academic Top 10” Award honors for the Fall of 2011.
Selected by the Sports Information Directors of the 16 universities, the PSAC Top 10 Award recognizes excellence in the classroom as well as in athletics, with five male and five female athletes being selected for the Fall, Winter and Spring sports seasons.
Prerequisites are a cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.5 or higher and a one-year residence at his or her institution.
Sopic, a free safety with four letters, graduated in December as a Chemistry major with a 3.919 cumulative GPA.
The 6-3, 210-pounder was a 2011 team captain and finished the season as the Golden Eagles’ No. 2 tackler with 64 stops. He had one interception, broke up two passes and recovered two fumbles.
Sopic came back for his redshirt senior season after sitting out the previous fall because of a knee injury.
His career totals were 229 tackles, seven tackles for losses, five interceptions, 16 pass break-ups, two fumble recoveries and three fumbles caused.
Previously, Sopic was named a First Team 2011 Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-American by the Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
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WOMEN’S SWIMMING
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Sophomore Brandie Centi of Clearfield anchored the Lincoln ‘A’ 200-yard medley relay team for the first time Friday night, and the four Lynx won the meet’s opening event against host Lewis University in 1:56.06.
The victory was Centi’s first for the Lynx, who lost 103-86 for a 2-1 record.
Centi also placed fifth in the 100 freestyle in 1:02.50 and sixth in the 50 free in 27.90 seconds.
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK
UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State sophomore Gwenn Porter of Clearfield placed 12th in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11:12.06 at the Penn State National on the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track Saturday.
