Recovering from knee surgery Allie Southard received support from an unexpected source.
Struggling to do layouts Southard became frustrated. That is when Sharaya Musser approached her.
“She just pulled me over and said ‘You are gorgeous at these. These are so easy for you.’,” said Southard. “As a fresh, to pull someone aside and give them the confidence they need it really helped me so much.”
The Big Ten Freshman of the Year has shown maturity in all aspects of the sport. Musser has had to grow since a posterior cruciate ligament injury half way through the season left sophomore teammate Whitney Bencsko out for the year.
“We really needed people to step up,” said senior Brandi Personett “Ever since then she has just been nailing her routines in practice and in meets.”
“She has been working extra hard and doing the extra stuff in practice.”
During the Big Ten Championship, Musser was Penn State’s top performer on beams, with a second place 9.9 score. The freshman also posted a personal best 9.9 score on floor.
“She’s been a real positive force on our team,” said head coach Steve Shephard. “We are fortunate to have her in our program.”
Coming from a sport that is largely individual on a pre-collegiate level. Musser has shown little trouble learning to play for her team.
‘She has been cheering everyone on and support everyone,” said Southard. “That is impressive to do as a freshman.”
‘I really just want to be there for my team,” added Musser.
The freshman gymnast comes from a large team of her own. Musser has four sisters, all gymnast, and two brother.
Her father and uncle both went to Penn State.
“I just knew I wanted to come here,” said Musser. “Ever since I was young I always had a Penn State sweatshirt on.”
“We always watched the football games.’
Musser’s first major gymnastics competition would come with 17-year-old sister Alecia. The sister pair would both compete at the 2009 Junior Olympic Nationals.
“It was awesome having my sister with me,” said Musser “On hard days when we did not want to go in, we had each other.”
The junior gymnast would finish first in both beam and vault. She would also finish second in all-round.
“(Junior Olympic Nationals) sets you up for big settings,” said Personett. “They prepare you for meets like the NCAA Championships”
“Her success there has really led to her success here.”
Musser and the No. 14 Penn State women’s gymnastics team will compete at home this weekend in the 2010 NCAA Regional Championships on Saturday at 6 p.m. Personett is expecting a strong performance from her younger teammate this weekend.
“She is a beautiful athlete who nails her routine almost effortlessly,” said Personett. “I know she is going to hit all her moves this weekend.”
This season will be Personett’s last at Penn State. The senior appreciate having younger talent, such as Musser.
“She is already talented, but she has three more years to build off that,” said Personett. “It is great to have some to count on and to know you are leaving the team in the hands of a really good gymnast.”
“The future is very bright for Penn State gymnastics,” said Shephard.
