The blue and white of the Penn State faithful sat amongst the sparse crowd of 2,000 fans in St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio, during Saturday's double dual gymnastics meet.

The turnout was a far stretch from the 4,401 people who attended the double dual meet at Rec Hall on Jan. 30.

Even more unsettling was the fact that the Ohio State men's team is ranked No. 1 in the country, but it didn't draw the crowd support deserving of its top gymnastics program.

"In comparison to Penn State, it was terrible," freshman Ryan McEwen said of the crowd turnout. "I guess that's pretty much the way it is all around the country though. No one really has the kind of support that Penn State has here."

"It's tough to replicate the same atmosphere that you get in Rec Hall and the same support that we get," Men's Gymnastics Coach Randy Jepson added. "It was in a big arena and the place seemed dead and empty. Yet we had our Penn Staters there to support us."

In fact, at times it seemed as if the Penn State fans outnumbered the Buckeye supporters.

"The moment they started the 'We are Penn State' cheer and it was louder than the Ohio cheer, it felt like we had support around the country," junior Dave Riordan said.

Although some students drove to Columbus for the meet, the majority of the Penn State following were alumni from the Penn State Club Central Ohio.

"Most Ohio State fans, they support the football team, they support the basketball team and only if they're winning," Club President Gary Novinskie, class of 1972, said. "We like to support the athletes themselves."

The club members also showed their support after the meet by hosting a reception for the men's and women's teams.

"We just want to try to make them feel at home," club member Bob Hess, class of 1954, said. "We want to make sure they have a good time here after the event. Win or lose, we're there to support them."

The hospitality offered by the alumni has not gone unnoticed by the gymnasts and coaches. Jepson said he appreciates the commitment to Penn State that the alumni continue to uphold.

"They realize that our program is something that has been important to them in the past," Jepson said. "And they still want to maintain that link to our program."

Despite the distance from their alma mater, the alumni never lose their 'We are Penn State' fever.

"Our love for this school, even though we live in Buckeyeland, will never wane," Hess said. "Someone asked me four years ago when I moved here, 'Do you root for the Buckeyes?' I said, 'Absolutely not, I will never root for that team.' "

Now the Central Ohio club, with almost 500 members, has even more of a reason to cheer on the Nittany Lions. With Penn State having joined the Big Ten, Ohio State has become an instant conference rival.

"Before we went into the Big Ten, we had no coverage in any of the papers," Novinskie said. "When Penn State played a football game, generally it was preempted for an old rerun of a 1950 movie."

But as the times have changed, providing more opportunites for the club, the Penn State tradition in athletics has not. The alumni were impressed by the continuing pride and appreciation expressed by the gymnasts.

"Gymnastics is not like football or basketball, where people will kill each other to get tickets," Hess said. "It does not get the attention that it deserves, so I think our support means a lot to them. And when these student athletes say thank you for coming out, thanks for the party, that really makes us feel proud."