Déjà vu weekend in store for Gymwomen

After placing fifth at the Big Ten championships two weeks ago, the Penn State women's gymnastics team finds itself in a situation similar to last season.

Despite finishing seventh at last year's Big Tens, the Lady Lions roared into the Northeast Regional and won the competition, enabling them to advance to the NCAA championships. This weekend, Penn State will attempt to repeat last season's regional performance and then travel to Florida for nationals.

The NCAA Northeast Regional starts at 6 p.m. tomorrow at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Although No. 1 seed Ohio State has the advantage of hosting the meet, the Lady Lions have history on their side. They have won the competition five of the last six years, including the last two.

Penn State sophomore Missy Leopoldus enters the regional as the defending all-around and beam champion. She said the team has had its eyes set on this weekend for a long time.

"This is what we have worked for all season," she said. "This weekend is where we want to put it all together."

The Lady Lions had two looks at the Buckeyes this season, and both times Ohio State came out on top. Penn State freshman Nikki Smith said the team is hungry to finish tomorrow's meet ahead of Ohio State.

"I think that going into regionals Ohio State is the one that beat us at Big Tens, and we want to go out and beat them," she said.

The Lady Lions will have a great chance to do that, as all their gymnasts will be at full strength. Senior Bea Selz is fully recovered from the hyperextended elbow she suffered last month.

Lady Lion coach Steve Shephard said his squad is in the best shape it has been in all season. He added that the focus of the meet will not be on watching its opponents but on his own team's performance.

"We have to completely focus on what we have to do," he said.

If Penn State wins the region, it receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. However, if it does not win, it will have to hope its score is high enough to get one of the seven at-large bids, which are based on results from the other regions. Shephard said the team wants to wrap the bid up tomorrow night.

"We'd rather go as a winner of the regionals," he said. "We don't want to sweat it out. We win. We go."

Leopoldus said after Big Tens each Lady Lion made a pledge, and even signed a contract, saying she will put her heart into winning the competition. Penn State's commitment to the meet was evident in practice. The Lady Lions came in every day, even on its off day, and focused on strength and aerobics.

"We've done a lot of mental, as well as physical, preparation for this meet," Leopoldus said.

To prepare for pressure situations, the Lady Lions did all they could to make each routines for each event difficult. Making the gymnasts uncomfortable was the object.

"We've really pulled out all the stops trying to keep them ready mentally for the meet," Shephard said.

Some of the situations involved gymnasts switching directions on beam, performing a routine without any practice and gymnasts yelling during a practice routine. The preparation also involved a few of the women crawling under the beam during a routine.

Sophomore Janae Whittaker said she feels the team is ready to have a great meet due to the encouraging practices it has enjoyed recently. The memory of last season helped the team in preparation for this year's regionals, added Whittaker.

"It made us fired up to have intense practices," she said. "We want to take a look at how we have been doing all year."