STATE COLLEGE, Pa., March 19, 2003 - Penn State senior Katie Rowland (Georgetown, Ontario) has been named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week after setting a school record in the all-around with a 39.775 and posting a perfect 10.000 on the balance beam. The honor is her fourth this season and the eighth of her career. Rowland has been named one of six finalists for the American Award, given to the nation's top gymnast.

Competing in the final home meet of her career, the Penn State senior surpassed her previous school record of 39.725 in the all-around which she set as a junior. She became just the fourth gymnast in school history to post a perfect score on the balance beam and the first since the 2000 campaign. In addition, Rowland finished in the top three in the other three events, winning the floor exercise with a career-high score of 9.975, tying for second on the vault (9.925) and placing third on the uneven bars (9.875).

The Canada native now holds Penn State records in the all-around, balance beam, vault (a perfect 10.000 earlier this season) and uneven bars (9.950). In addition, Rowland has competed in the all-around in every meet of her four-year tenure at Penn State.

Rowland has been named Big Ten Gymnast of the Week eight times in her last three seasons, as she was honored on three occasions in 2001 on her way to earning the Conference Gymnast of the Year award. She is a two-time All-Big Ten pick and the defending League champion in both the all-around and vault. She was named Gymnast of the Week on Jan. 29, Feb. 18 and March 4 of this season and currently ranks 11th in the nation in the all-around by GymInfo, including fifth on vault and 13th on the floor.

It was also announced today that Rowland has been named a finalist for the American Award, given to the nation's top gymnast as voted on by the coaches. She is one of six seniors vying for the award, joining Utah's Theresa Kulikowski, Nebraska's A.J. Lamb, Alabama's Kristin Sterner, Michigan's Janessa Grieco and UCLA's Onnie Willis. The winner will be announced at the awards banquet at the 2003 NCAA Championships, to be held April 24 at the University of Nebraska.

Visit Penn State's official athletics website, www.GoPSUsports.com for more information on the Nittany Lion women's gymnastics team.