STATE COLLEGE, Pa.; July 27, 2004 - The Penn State men's gymnastics team finished third in the National Academic Standings, as recently announced by the College Gymnastics Association. Penn State's cumulative grade point average of 3.218 came in third behind 2003-04 academic champion Stanford (3.382) and Springfield (3.223), which finished second. The Nittany Lions captured the NCAA team championship this year, their NCAA-record 11th overall.

Three Lions earned 2004 All-America Scholar-Athlete recognition from the College Gymnastics Association for attaining at least a 3.50 grade point average in addition to earning a minimum NCAA gymnastics score of 8.0 during the 2003-04 academic year. Junior Jerker Taudien (Eskilstuna, Sweden), redshirt-sophomore Casey McIntyre (Perrysburg, Ohio) and junior Ludwig Kern (Annapolis, Md.) were all among the 41 total academic honorees.

The honor was the third straight for Taudien, who earned a 3.940 grade point average. He appeared regularly for the Lions on the pommel horse, high bar and parallel bars and posted a career high 9.075 in the NCAA team finals for Penn State on the pommel horse to highlight his season. After coming back from a major injury, McIntyre competed only on the rings this season for Penn State, posting a career high 9.050 vs. William & Mary as a regular in the line-up. The Lions' final honoree, Kern also scored career highs at NCAAs on the floor exercise (9.100) and on the pommel horse (9.125). Kern earned a cumulative 3.620 this year to earn his second academic honor from the College Gymnastics Association.