Casey Sandy refused to look at the scoreboard during Saturday's Big Ten championships.

If he had looked up toward the Rec Hall screen, however, the junior All-American gymnast would have seen his name at the top of the individual all-around rankings from start to finish.

Sandy was virtually unchallenged as he captured his first all-around Big Ten title, by posting a score of 91.500, almost four points better than his closest competitor, Ohio State's Jake Bateman.

The victory was especially sweet for Sandy who couldn't compete during the second half of his freshman season because of a broken arm, and then lost last season's title by less than half a point to Illinois' Wes Haagensen.

"I just tried to stay in my own world and focus on my own routine," Sandy said. "Because that was all I could control."

Sandy, who has won four Big Ten men's gymnast of the week awards this season, is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in the all-around.

He finished no lower than seventh in any of the six events, and finished tied for first in the parallel bars, an event he would claim the Big Ten event title for the following night.

"He was unbelievable," coach Randy Jepson said. "A 91.500 -- that's a world class score."

Sandy's performance led the Nittany Lions to their second Big Ten title, and their first since Sandy's arrival in 2005.

"It was an awesome experience," Sandy said. "Last year I lost by tenths and the team lost by tenths, and that made it so awesome this year."

At the post-meet press conference, Sandy was happier with his team's victory than the individual victory, which fit perfectly into Jepson's description of the gymnast as "extremely humble."

Before the meet, Jepson told the story of last season when Penn State received its national championship rings. When Sandy heard that senior Santiago Lopez's ring hadn't been shipped, he refused to wear his own until Lopez's arrived months later.

But despite Sandy's team-first attitude, he stood out as an individual during Friday night's championships.

"I was just thrilled for him," Jepson said. "He's had some unfortunate luck in the past ... so I've been waiting for him to break out and show who he is, and he was certainly able to do that tonight."