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Burnaby gymnast named freshman of the year

Burnaby Central Secondary grad Briannah Tsang helped Penn State women's artistic gymnastics team to fourth place at Big Ten conference championships

Co-freshman of the year Briannah Tsang helped Penn State University posts its highest-ever team score at the Big Ten women’s artistic gymnastics championships.

Tsang, who shared the top freshman honour with Michigan’s Brianna Brown following the NCAA Division I conference championships, shared in Penn State’s 196.725 point score.

Penn State’s fourth-place-finishing score beat the program’s previous record set in 2000 and was the 11th time 24 championship appearances at conference summit that the Nittany Lions scored better than 196.000.

“It was an outstanding performance by our team today,” said Penn State head coach Jeff Thompson in a school press release. “The girls handled some pre-meet lineup changes very well and everyone did their job. I feel really good about where we are right now, heading into the NCAA regional selections.”

Tsang placed tied for 10th place in the all-around with a combined score of 39.350 at the conference championships at the University of Michigan.

Tsang capped her freshman season, earning second-team All-Big Ten honours.

The Burnaby Central Secondary grad ranks among the top-20 in the Big Ten on all four apparatus and finished the regular season ninth overall with a regional qualifying score of 39.380 in the all-around.

Her 9.890 RQS score on the vault is 30th-best nationally and sixth in the conference. She also won a school record four Big Ten freshman of the week honors.

Tsang also wrote her name into the Penn State record books on three occasions, twice on the vault and once on the balance beam, while also claiming 11 individual event titles and four all-around competitions during the regular season. She won four titles on the vault, three on the balance beam and floor exercise, and one on the uneven bars. Her season-high score of 9.950 on the vault is tied for third in the conference, while her 9.950 on the balance beam is also tied for third among Big Ten gymnasts.

At the conference final, Tsang also posted a career-high 9.900 on the uneven bars to place fifth.