The captain returns

Healthy gymnast Malka puts nagging injuries behind him

Everyone in Rec Hall let out a collective sigh of relief as Penn State men's gymnastics captain Roy Malka turned in his best floor exercise of the season, finally overcoming nagging injuries at Saturday's meet versus Michigan State.

Malka said his shoulder had been bothering him since the first meet of the season in early January in which he also fell from the high bar and injured his ankle.

"He was able to heal up a bit and put in some good work this week," Penn State coach Randy Jepson said. "His focus was really there and that's what we're looking for from Roy as a captain."

Malka turned his focus and improved physical condition into personal season highs in all five events in which he competed.

Most noticeably, he improved to a 9.3 from a 8.95 high in the floor exercise, and from a 8.8 to a 9.3 in the rings, events he had been forced to miss in recent competitions.

Jepson said Malka has been going through the daily process of getting better and making little improvements every day. However, he is still not 100 percent in the gym.

"I've changed my set a little to accommodate for what I can do right now," Malka said. He removed a difficult flair sequence from his floor exercise and replaced it with an easier one not worth as many points.

A flair sequence is when a gymnast elevates his body using his arms while swinging his legs around, so that it resembles a pommel horse routine done on the mat.

"That's all I could do at this point," he said. "Hopefully, I'll be able to operate my set back at the level I wanted to be at."

Malka said he does not believe injuries were the only cause of less-than-stellar performances prior to this weekend, but they certainly did not help. In addition to the injuries, he is also taking a course load of 18 credits.

"He comes into the gym an hour after practice already, so he has to do what he needs to do in a short amount of time," Jepson said.

When a situation like Malka's occurs, the job of supporting the captain falls to the younger teammates. Freshman Tobias Ekman said everyone on the team has done his part to cheer up Malka.

To Ekman, the role reversal is only fair, since Malka has always helped and supported him.

Jepson said he is not surprised by the amount of care and support on his team.

"Everybody feeds off of everyone else," Jepson said. "Even though you have a freshman and senior, the guys really don't look at the seniority aspect as much that they are all one."

And for Malka, the psychological healing is just as important as the physical.

"I guess this week I had a change of mind sets," Malka said. "It helped me improve. Up until now I haven't been up to par."