STATE COLLEGE, Pa., July 29, 2002 - The Penn State men's gymnastics team is ranked eighth in the nation academically according to the College Gymnastics Association. The Nittany Lions carried a 3.167 grade point average during the 2001-02 season and is the highest-ranked Big Ten squad. William and Mary won the CGA's national academic team title owning a 3.348 team GPA. Five individual Nittany Lions were also honored as All-America Scholar Athletes.

Senior Jose Palacios (Gijon, Spain) earned Academic All-America honors from the Association for the fourth-consecutive year. An areospace engineering major, he competed on floor on the first day of the West Point open in January, but was forced to miss the rest of the season because of an injury. Palacios will return for his fifth season in 2002-03.

Freshman Jerker Taudien (Eskilstun, Sweden) earned the highest GPA on the squad. An electrical engineering major, he earned a 3.87 during his first year at Penn State. Taudien was a regular in the pommel horse lineup. He earned a career-high 9.300 at Ohio State.

Freshmen Nathaniel Eng (Cohoes, N.Y.), Zak Rimler (Rockville, Conn.) and Ludwig Kern (Annapolis, Md.) also earned Academic All-America honors.

Stanford (3.295) and M.I.T. (3.288) round out the top three. Only two other Big Ten schools rank in the top 15. Ohio State is ranked 10th with a 2.977 GPA while Illinois is 15th (2.852). The College Gymnastics Association honored 62 gymnasts in 2002. A gymnast must achieve at least a 3.50 grade point average as well as a minimum NCAA gymnastics score of 8.0.