Grace, agility and jumping tunes key to gymwomen's success on floor

Each time the Penn State women's gymnastics team competes at Rec Hall, there is a sense of anticipation before the fourth rotation. The fans know it's their time to make themselves heard. In turn, the gymnasts know it's show time.

"It's definitely my favorite event to compete because the crowd gets into the music and you can really perform your routine more so with a smile and show off," junior Ellen Casey said. "Floor is the best to show your personality and excitement."

The three words which Penn State assistant coach Jessica Bastardi used to describe the event were "artistic," "creative," and "powerful." The main difference from the other events is the lack of pressure which the gymnasts feel, she said.

One of the major duties Bastardi performs is the choreography of the Lion floor routines. She said the event is a combination of gymnastics skills -- such as dance moves -- turns, jumps and acrobatic skills, which include back handsprings and tucks.

Each gymnast is required to do two passes, a portion of the routine in which she starts at one corner of the floor, runs diagonally across and then performs a flip. However, the Lions do three passes. This makes for a better routine, according to Bastardi.

"You don't have to have three passes, but we think it's important to have three," she said. "Floor is one of our best events and so we want to capitalize on that."

She added that on other days, the team works on dance aspects and endurance. Because tumbling is a ballistic exercise, it can take a toll on an athlete. Bastardi said finding other ways to simulate routines without wearing them down is important.

"It's full-out energy, so you have to have enough endurance to make your last pass strong and to finish with a strong routine," she said. "It can beat them up a little bit if you do too much, so we have to find alternative ways to train endurance without beating them up."

The aspect of floor which affords gymnasts the opportunity to be themselves is the music. The type of selections the Lions have range from Rusted Root to Garth Brooks. Casey, who does her routine to the sounds of Rusted Root, said ideas for music could come from the movies they see or songs they hear on the radio.

"Anytime we go to the movies, we'll think, 'Oh, that's really good for floor music,' and tell (Bastardi)," she said.

In other ways, the music gymnasts choose reflects their personality. Bastardi said freshmen Gemma Cuff and Maria Taylor are still in the learning phase of expressing themselves on floor and playing to the judges. In the case of the older gymnasts, the music is a perfect match for them.

"Ellen's music is powerful and she's powerful. Missy likes country music and she's got the Garth Brooks. She's an elegant and pretty gymnast and although Garth Brooks isn't that elegant, she's able to display that in her music," Bastardi said. "Janae's (Whittaker) personality is there in the Violent Femmes because it's fun and it's peppy and that's the way she is. Ashley (Wilson) is a powerful kind of gymnast and Nikki Smith is a sleek, slinky kind of gymnast and her kind of music does the same thing with her."

Over the summer, Bastardi cut different selections of music, played them for the gymnasts and let them chose what they liked. She said it is up to the gymnast to decide which sound is right for them.

"I don't like to tell them what to do," she said. "I like it to be a collaboration where we do it together, where they're comfortable or they have ideas and I go, 'Yeah, I like that,' or, 'No, let's try it this way.' "

In some cases, gymnasts change their music from one year to the next. Junior Missy Leopoldus performed to the songs of The Doors last season but switched to Garth Brooks this year. For Leopoldus, the sharp change from rock to country was a matter of style.

"I just like the music a lot. I have a lot of fun with it and I think even if the crowd doesn't like country music, I think they get into it a little bit," she said. "Everybody knows Garth, and I really am inspired by it."