One of this weekend’s regionals sites is here in State College, PA, home of the Penn State Nittany Lions. The event will take place in historic Recreation Hall beginning at 4:00 Eastern Time. #15 ranked Penn State will play host to 5 other teams ranked in the top 36: #1 Florida, #12 Oregon State, #23 New Hampshire, #29 Kentucky and #35 Maryland. There will also be several individual competitors representing Brown University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Bridgeport and Cornell University.

 

A Look At The Teams

#1 Florida:

                Florida, the reigning National Champions, have been ranked #1 in the country for 3 consecutive weeks and in the top 3 for the past 14 weeks. Florida has reached the 198 score barrier on four occasions this season. They also have 3 of the top 10 All-Arounders in the country and 3 Individual Event leaders from this season. The two standouts are Sophomore Bridget Sloan and Junior Kytra Hunter. Both were former Elite competitors and were on the US National Team for several years.  They both are standout competitors on all 4 events, scoring 7 perfect tens between them this season. Also on the team are sisters Mackenzie (senior) and Bridgette (sophomore) Caquatto. Both were US National Team members and competed extensively for the US internationally. Mackenzie is one of the top scorers on the Balance Beam and Uneven Bars, and Bridgette typically anchors the Floor Exercise.

#12 Oregon State

                After a less then spectacular meet at the Pac-12 Championships, Oregon State is looking to use their number two seeding at this regional as an advantage to qualify to Nationals. Beam is the highlight for this team this year. They are currently ranked 8^th on the event with an RQS of 49.195. They will end on this event so look for it to be close during the last rotation. The Beavers are led by junior Chelsea Tang who has won 5 All-Around titles over the course of this season with an RQS Average of 39.24, 21^st in the Nation.

#15 Penn State

                Penn State is in the midst of one of the best seasons in their history. At the Big 10 quad meet 3 weeks ago, they earned their 20^th regular season victory, the first of its kind by a Penn State team. They scored a season high of 197.1 at Rutgers earlier this season. The Nittany Lions are led by seniors Kassidy Stauder (AA) and Lindsay Musgrove (VT,FX). Both have been huge contributors on all of their events including multiple scores above 9.9 this season. There have been several other standouts including All-Arounders Krystal Welsh, Sidney Sanabria-Robles and Randi Lau. Another one to watch is freshman Emma Sibson who earlier this year earned a 9.975 on Vault at New Hampshire.

#23 New Hampshire

                After finally dropping several lower counting RQS scores from earlier this season, New Hampshire has risen to number 23 in the Nation. The ‘Cats will begin on their highest scoring event, Floor. They currently have an RQS of 49.125 which ranks them 22^nd. At the EAGL championships 2 weeks ago, the ‘Cats scored season high of 49.4 highlighted by a 9.9 by Erin Machado.

#29 Kentucky

The Kentucky Wildcats are very excited about coming to Penn State where last year they scored their program high 196.775. So far this season, their best event has been the Floor Exercise, where they are currently ranked 18^th in the nation with a 49.185 RQS. Senior Audrey Harrison has been the standout here with a season high of 9.95 on Floor and a high of 39.325 in the All Around.

#35 Maryland

                The story of this year for the Maryland Terps has been one of making more with less. After the graduation of Ally Krikorian last year, and the injury to Katy Dodds earlier this year, Maryland has been squeezing every routine they can out of their lineups. The Terps are currently ranked 33^rd on Floor and have an RQS of 49.015. Their leader is Stephanie Giameo whose season high in the All Around is a 39.3.