No. 13 women's gymnastics travels to Oklahoma for NCAA Regional

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- After posting the highest score at the Big Ten Championships in program history, the Penn State women’s gymnastics program will head to Norman, Okla. to compete in the NCAA Regional Championships on Saturday, April 4. The University of Oklahoma will host the meet at the Lloyd Noble Center beginning at 4:45 p.m. ET and be carried live on Fox Sports Southwest & Fox College Sports Central.

The regional includes Big XII champion and No. 1 overall seed Oklahoma, No. 12 Oregon State, No. 22 Southern Utah, Missouri and North Carolina State. The top two teams from each of the six regionals will advance to the NCAA Championships on April 17-19 in Dallas, Texas. The five other regional sites include: Ames, Iowa; Auburn, Ala.; Berkeley, Calif.; Columbus, Ohio and Morgantown, W.Va.Penn State will travel to Oklahoma for the NCAA Regional for the second time in three seasons, as they finished fourth during at the 2013 Norman Regional. It is just the sixth time in PSU’s 34 NCAA Regional appearances the Blue and White will venture outside of the Big Ten/East Coast footprint. The Nittany Lions have advanced to each of the 34 NCAA Regional Championships since they began in 1982.The Nittany Lions will be looking to secure the 18th all-time trip to the NCAA Championships in program history and the second straight trip after qualifying last season. The 2014 squad posted the highest NCAA postseason score in program history at 196.725 to finish second behind No. 1 Florida at the University Park Regional.Freshman Briannah Tsang became the fourth Penn State gymnast to win the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, sharing the honor with Michigan’s Brianna Brown following the Big Ten Championships on March 21. Tsang won a school-record four Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors and ranked among the national top-40 on the vault (37th) and the all-around (20th). She won 11 individual event titles and four all-around crowns during the season and scored 9.900 or better on all four events during the season.Tsang, along with Senior Sidney Sanabria-Robles and sophomore Emma Sibson all earned second-team All-Big Ten honors prior to the Big Ten Championships. Sanabria-Robles was among the top all-around performers in the conference during 2015, finishing the season ranked among the national top-25 with a regional qualifying score of 39.380. Sibson competed in the all-around just twice, but is ranked highly among her conference constituents on the vault and floor exercise to merit all-conference honors.

NCAA Regional Championship HistoryPenn State will be appearing in its 34 straight NCAA Regional Championships inside the Lloyd Noble Center on the campus of Oklahoma.

• The Nittany Lions have competed in every NCAA Regional since the first event was held in 1982. This will be the 34th straight appearance in the postseason for Penn State.
• Penn State has won the NCAA Regional on 12 occasions and finished second on nine occasions.
• In 2014, Penn State set a NCAA postseason school record with a team score of 196.725 to finish second behind No. 1 Florida.
• Penn State’s highest road NCAA postseason score came in 2006 at Michigan with a 196.175.
• Nittany Lion gymnasts have won 62 individual event titles and 16 all-around crowns at the NCAA Regional Championships.
• Brandi Personett is the most recent event winner, as she captured the all-around and vault titles during the 2010 NCAA Regional.

2015 Big Ten ChampionshipsPenn State posted a fourth place showing at the Big Ten Championships on March 21 in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Nittany Lions also set a school record in the process.

• Penn State’s team score of 196.725 is the highest score in school history at the B1G Championships.
• The team total also equals the highest postseason score in school history, which was set at the 2014 NCAA Regional.
• Three of Penn State’s four event totals rank among the top five this season; vault (49.275; 5th), uneven bars (49.275; 2nd) and floor exercise (49.175; T-4th).
• Penn State placed six gymnasts among the top-10 at the B1G Championships, including Sidney Sanabria-Robles (T7th) and Briannah Tsang (T10th) in the all-around.
• Sanabria-Robles and Emma Sibson both tied for No. 5 on the vault (9.900), Tsang finished tied for No. 5 on the uneven bars (9.900) and Christina Postiglione tied for No. 9 on the balance beam (9.850).
• Tsang earned Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year following the meet. She shared the award with Michigan’s Brianna Brown.

Tsang Named B1G’s Top RookieFreshman Briannah Tsang was named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year following a solid showing at the B1G Championships on March 21.

• Tsang shared the award with Michigan’s Brianna Brown. The shared honor is the first split FOTY award in conference history.
• She became the fourth Penn State gymnast to win the award, joining Sharaya Musser (2010), Brandi Personett (2007) and Nikki Bongiovanni (1999).
• The four Big Ten Freshman of the Year award winners rank second in conference history behind Michigan’s 11 winners.
• Her four Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards set a new Penn State record and ranked second in the Big Ten this season (Brown, Mich.; 5).
• Tsang is one of just 25 gymnasts to post a 39.500 or better in the all-around this season and is one of only four qualifying freshman to reach the mark.
• She wrote her name into the PSU record books on three occasions; tying for No. 9 on the vault at No. 14 Illinois and at No. 8 Nebraska (9.950), and tying for No. 9 on the balance beam with a 9.950 vs. Maryland.