Glenn Captures High Bar Title, Army Falls to Penn State

Saturday, January 9

University Park, PA

4 PM

Army West Point

403.400

424.450

Penn State

Glenn Captures High Bar Title, Army Falls to Penn State

January 09, 2016 | Men's Gymnastics

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The 12th-ranked Army West Point gymnastics team opened the season on Saturday against fourth-ranked Penn State, falling to the Nittany Lions by a score of 424.450-403.400 from Recreation Hall in State College, Pa.

On the afternoon, Army posted eight top-five finishes, led by senior Jesse Glenn, who captured the high bar title, in addition to claiming four addition top-five finishes. Glenn posted a score of 14.900 to earn first on high bar. The first place finish was the first for an Army individual over Penn State since Garrek Hojan-Clark earned the top spot on pommel horse in 2014.

"The meet was a really good experience," said Glenn. "We had some simple mistakes but for the first meet of the season it was expected. I think even though the score might not have shown it, this competition started us off on a really good foot for the rest of the season. We have a lot of potential coming up and they're starting to show that they can perform even after the first competition.

"It was really neat to win high bar at Penn State because we have this rivalry where I'll win an event at home and then they win the event at home, so it's nice to finally win on the road."

Army earned the victory over the Nittany Lions on high bar, finishing with a mark of 70.200, the seventh best in program history. Leo Genders placed third with a career-best mark of 14.650, while Nathan Goff earned fourth with a score of 14.300. Seth Cannon earned sixth with a score of 13.750, Cole Casanova (12.600) and Sam Kusnitz (12.400) earned 10th and 11th, respectively.

The Black Knights started the meet off on pommel horse, where Glenn posted a third place finish with a score 14.100. Cannon finished seventh with a score of 13.500, followed by Andre Hufnagel (13.000) who tied for ninth, Casanova (12.850) who tied for 11th and Goff and Elijah-Ty Phelps (12.700) who tied for 12th. As a team, Army finished the apparatus with a score of 68.950.

Moving to floor exercise, the Black Knights recorded a team score of 66.150, led by Glenn's fifth-place score of 14.200. Casanova placed seventh with a mark of 14.000, followed by Kusnitz in eighth (13.950. Elliott Herman placed 10th with a score of 13.600, followed by Cannon (13.200) in 11th and Genders (12.650) in 12th.

For the third rotation, Army earned a team score of 70.800 on vault. Ryan Wilson paced the Black Knights with a career-best score of 14.500 to place fourth. Glenn followed with a score of 14.400, tying for fifth. Casanova captured eighth with a score of 14.200, while Kusnitz (14.150), Genders (13.550) and Joe Pritts (13.200) rounded out the competition.

Penn State dominated on still rings as the Black Knights were unable to crack the top five. Goff earned the team's top mark of 12.800, followed by Herman (12.750), Casanova (12.400), Wilson (12.250), Glenn (11.900) and Pritts (11.200).

Army moved to high bar for the fourth rotation before wrapping up the afternoon on parallel bars. Glenn's score of 13.900 on parallel bars was good enough for a third place nod. Goff placed sixth with a score of 13.300, followed by Casanova (13.150) in seventh and McAfee (13.050) in eighth.

Glenn placed second in the all-around with a score of 83.400, followed by Casanova in third (79.200). Penn State's Trevor Howard placed first with a mark of 85.550.

With the loss, Army falls to 0-1 on the season, having surrendered 21 straight contests to the Nittany Lions. The Black Knights will return to competition next weekend when they host the 25th Annual West Point Open from Christl Arena. Army will welcome Navy, Penn State, Springfield, Temple and the NY Alliance to the competition, set for 7 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday nights.

Visit www.GoArmyWestPoint.com for up-to-date information and follow the Black Knights on Twitter @ArmyWP_Gym and Instagram @armywpgymnastics.