UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State junior Felix Aronovich (Kiryat Bialik, Israel) has been recognized as Big Ten Gymnast of the Week for his standout performance in the Nittany Lions’ decisive 359.300-347.900 home win over Minnesota last weekend. For Aronovich, the conference award is the fourth of his career and second this season.
Aronovich captured the all-around title versus the Golden Gophers, playing a key role in Penn State registering the nation’s highest team score this season and establishing program records in the pommel horse and still rings. The junior tied or set career highs in three events (floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings) en route to recording the nation’s fourth highest all-around score this season (89.400). Aronovich secured a share of the parallel bars title (14.900), finished second in the pommel horse (15.100) and high bar (tie) (14.800), and placed fourth in the floor exercise (14.900) and still rings (tie) (15.300). His score of 89.400, which far surpassed his previous career best of 87.150, was also the highest all-around score earned by a Nittany Lion since Nissen-Emery winner Casey Sandy posted a 90.500 at the 2009 National Collegiate Championships.
Aronovich, who qualified for the 2012 Olympics for his native Israel in January, is nationally ranked in the top 20 in four events. He is positioned at No. 4 in the parallel bars, No. 11 in the high bar, No. 14 in the pommel horse, and No. 15 in the still rings.
Penn State, which moved up to No. 2 in the national rankings following its strong performance versus Minnesota, will remain at home this weekend, facing No. 10 Temple in the team’s 2012 regular season finale. The Nittany Lions will host the Owls on Saturday in Rec Hall, with competition scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. For seniors Colin Hill (Sterling, Mass.), Miguel Pineda (Galloway, Ohio), Logan Wyman (Phoenix, Md.), and Warren Yang (Nepean, Ont.), it will be their final home appearance in a Nittany Lion uniform. They will be honored in a special Senior Night ceremony following the meet.