Gymwomen fail test on beam

Throughout last week's practice, the Penn State women's gymnastics team focused on getting a monkey off its back that haunted it the weekend before in West Virginia. It was the balance beam.

On Friday the confidence level of the Lady Lions was high, and they were poised to become the top cats at the meet. But that never materialized, as Arizona and Missouri finished ahead of Penn State.

A major reason was Penn State's opening rotation -- the beam.

Only two Lady Lions, sophomore Missy Leopoldus and senior Bea Selz, hit their routines on the apparatus. At the end of the rotation, Penn State had a score of 46.2 and was looking up at the rest of the competition. However, the Lady Lions knew there were three events left and their worst was behind them.

"Going into the meet we were really excited," senior Leigh Cappello said. "After beam, we felt like we put a little too much pressure on ourselves."

The Lady Lions composed themselves and performed solidly on the rest of the rotations, taking first on vault (48.325) and second on bars (47.55) and floor (48.5). Leopoldus placed second in the all-around competition (38.475), tied for second in vault (9.8) and fourth in beam (9.65).

"I was just really confident going into the meet," Leopoldus said. "I was pretty relaxed and confident. I knew what I had to do."

Selz had another solid meet, as she finished fifth in the team competition on floor (9.75) and tied for sixth (9.775) on the same event the next night. Shephard believed the key to Selz's success this season has been her work ethic and her knowledge of the event.

Shephard was encouraged with Cappello's performance Friday. After battling bronchitis and other related symptoms since Christmas break, Cappello has improved each week and competed on three events at the Cat Classic, registering a 9 on beam and a 9.025 on bars.

"It feels good being back doing gymnastics," Cappello said. "I have confidence that with more practice time I will be back strong and helping the team."

Freshman Ashley Wilson and sophomore Ellen Casey both had successful weekends in Columbia. On Friday in her first Cat Classic, Wilson was in a tie for third on floor (9.775). Casey set a season-high on bars (9.875), finishing third in the event. In the individual competition, Casey placed second on vault (9.825).

Wilson said the atmosphere at the meet was pretty exciting, adding there was much noise inside the Hearnes Center. She added a new pass in her floor routine that she performed for the first time.

"I thought it went OK," she said. "Overall, I had fun at the meet."

On Saturday, Leopoldus was scratched from all events due to an ankle injury. Shephard said X-rays showed no sign of an acute fracture and further tests will be performed just to be sure there isn't any additional damage.

"We're keeping our fingers crossed that she is not seriously hurt," Shephard said.

Leopoldus agreed with her coach's assessment to rest the ankle during the individual competition and not take any chances of further injury.

"We didn't feel like it was good to compete on the second day," she said.