Gymwomen hope to roar at Cat Classic

Which team will produce the biggest roar or the weakest meow will be determined this weekend as the Penn State women's gymnastics team travels to Columbia, Mo., to compete in the Cat Classic on the campus of Missouri University.

The event consists of teams who have a cat as their mascot. Along with No. 19 Penn State (Lady Lions) and Missouri (Tigers), Pittsburgh (Panthers) and No. 14 Arizona (Wildcats) will make their way to the Show-Me state for the competition.

The format for this meet is different from the ones the Lady Lions have competed in the past few weeks. It is a two-day event, beginning at 7 p.m. CDT both nights, with the team competition Friday and the top 10 finishers of each event performing the following night for individual championships.

The atmosphere of the meet is very relaxing, according to senior Bea Selz.

"It tends not to be a whole lot of pressure," Selz said, "but it is good practice for nationals."

Lady Lion coach Steve Shephard called the Cat Classic a "big production," with local TV stations covering the competition. He said the meet drew 10,000 fans last year and credited Missouri coach Charles Jacobson for putting on a "good show."

"It's a big meet and a big show," Shephard said. "It's one of the biggest meets for Missouri. They make it like a national championship. They do it up right."

Each team is given a host family, sponsored by the Missouri booster club. Shephard said the families' job is to take the teams in and "be nice" to them. They act as ambassadors for the host institution, suggesting restaurants in the area.

Shephard said the Lady Lions will have the same host family -- Wayne and Jane Decker -- since he arrived at Penn State in 1993.

"They're sweet old people," he said.

Penn State's record at the Classic during Shephard's reign as coach has been very good. The Lady Lions won the meet in 1993 and 1995 and placed second in 1994 and 1996. He said former Lady Lion coach Judi Avener-Markell thought the competition was jinxed because every year at least one of her gymnasts kept getting hurt. Fortunately for Shephard, that bad luck has subsided during his tenure.

Aside from the placid atmosphere of the meet, there are a few objectives Penn State will carry out this weekend. One of them is regaining confidence on beam.

"It's more important this weekend to hit because we had trouble last weekend hitting on beam," sophomore Missy Leopoldus said.

Gauging from the practice they had during the week on beam, the Lady Lions appear to have solved the problem on the apparatus. Shephard said seven gymnasts hit 15-of-19 routines on beam during Wednesday's practice. During the last round of practice on the event each gymnast hit her routine.

Selz said the mood of the team is very upbeat going into the Cat Classic.

"Our confidence level has risen during workouts," she said. "We're really close, and we all believe in each other."