Gainsville Fla., January 11, 2001 - The Penn State women's gymnastics team opened the 2002 season with a sixth-place showing at the Super Six Challenge at the University of Florida on Friday night. The Nittany Lions, ranked 12th nationally, finished with a score of 193.375.
The University of Georgia took the Super Six Championship and finished with an overall score of 196.525. Alabama placed second (195.725), UCLA (195.075) finished third, the host Gators posted a fourth-place score of 194.600 and Louisiana State tallied a 193.825 count for fifth place.
Penn State posted team scores of 48.100 (vault), 47.925 (bars), 48.600 (beam) and 48.750 (floor) en route to its sixth-place showing.
Junior All-American Katie Rowland (Georgetown, Ontario) led the Nittany Lions with a score of 39.350 and a second-place finish in the all-around. She was also Penn State's highest scorer on each of the four events. Kinsey Rowe edged out Rowland by just .075 to take the all-around title, posting a score of 39.425.
Junior Katie McAvoy (Winnipeg, Manitoba) posted a of score of 9.800 and tied for ninth-place overall on the Beam. She also placed 10th in the All-Around competition with a score of 38.975 to help the Lions.
In her first collegiate meet, sophomore Kelly Streicher (Colorado Springs, Colo) posted a 9.625 on the beam, finishing 26th overall on that event.
LSU's Nicki Arnstad earned a perfect 10 on the floor exercise.
The Super Six Challenge will be televised by ESPN on a tape-delayed basis on January 27th at 5:30 pm (ET).
The Nittany Lions will return to action next Saturday, Jan. 19 when they host their home opener against Denver at 7:00 p.m. (ET) in Rec Hall.
Final Team Standings
1st - Georgia (196.525)
2nd- Alabama (195.725)
3rd - UCLA (195.650)
4th - Florida (194.600)
5th - Louisiana State (193.825)
6th - Penn State (193.375)
Penn State Final Team Results
Total:193.3 75
Vault: 48.100
Bars: 47.925
Beam: 48.600
Floor: 48.750
Penn State Top Individual Scores
All-Around: 39.350 (Katie Rowland)
Vault: 9.800 (Katie Rowland)
Bars: 9.800 (Katie Rowland)
Beam: 9.850 (Katie Rowland)
Floor: 9.900 (Katie Rowland)
