Despite a disappointing finish, two Penn State gymnasts aren’t ready for their season to be over.
The Nittany Lions finished third in last night’s NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Regional meet at Rec Hall, falling just 0.35 points shy of a berth in the National Championships but will still send two members to the national championship in two weeks.
“I thought they fought really hard,” head coach Steve Shephard said. “Obviously we came up a little short and that’s disappointing. But at the same time I think they can hold their heads high for the effort that they put in and the effort all year.”
The No. 14 Lions finished with a score of 196.050, behind No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 11 LSU, who finished with 197.250 and 196.400 respectively.
Shephard said he thought the pressures of performing on such a big stage definitely affected some members of the team.
“I think you can appreciate the amount of pressure that these kids are under and the complexity of the moves they are doing,” he said. “It’s amazing to me that they can do what they do because they are incredibly gifted athletes, and I’m extremely proud of them. Not only for that, but for the competitiveness that they demonstrated tonight.”
In spite of the disappointing finish, two members of the team still have nationals to look forward to.
Senior Brandi Personett, who won the vault competition with a near perfect 9.950, and freshman Sharaya Musser qualified for nationals as individuals after a 1-2 finish in the all-around competition with scores of 39.550 and 39.200.
“I was very proud of both of them qualifying for the national championship,” Shephard said. “It will be nice to have two of them there instead of just one. In the past, Brandi was by herself and that wasn’t a good experience for her.
“Having a teammate there, especially, a freshman with a senior, I think is gong to be a real good learning experience for Sharaya. Brandi can mentor her through the meet and I think Sharaya will be able to bring back the experience from the NCAA championship and help motivate her team.”
