Gymwomen head toward coast, UCLA Bruin Classic

During the first month of the season, the Penn State women's gymnastics team stayed virtually injury-free and benefited by posting solid competition scores while moving up the national rankings.

However, the injury bug has hit the Lady Lions as hard as the recent flu outbreak.

"Everyone is trying to step it up a notch," Lion coach Steve Shephard said. "You play the cards you are dealt with. I look at it as a great opportunity for the other kids to come in and do a good job."

Penn State will be without junior Missy Leopoldus, who suffered a sprained medial colladeral ligament last weekend, and freshman Maria Taylor, who is recovering from mono. Shephard said junior Janae Whittaker is still very sore from a severe heel bruise and is doubtful for the competition.

A piece of good news during the week was that Leopoldus' injury was not as bad as first thought. Shephard said she will be out for the next two weeks.

"I anticipate that she will recover quickly," he said. "We will take it day by day. She is walking OK and going to the training room each day."

Several changes have been made that will make the lineup look much different than last weekend's Ohio State meet. Senior Joanna Knox, junior Ellen Casey, sophomore Ashley Wilson and freshman Gemma Cuff will all compete in the all-around. Although Casey and Cuff have done all-around this season, this will be Knox's and Wilson's first tries at it this year.

Shephard said Wilson will perform a "layout tsuk" vault that has a start value of 9.8. In addition, redshirt freshman Heather Duggan will do routines on beam, floor and vault. Casey is confident Duggan will have another successful competition.

"I have no doubt that Heather's performance will improve," Casey said, "she was great last week."

For Penn State, this will be its first trip to UCLA since 1990, according to Shephard. This may be the first of two stops for the Lions in the Los Angeles region as the Bruins will host this year's NCAA Championships. Casey said the competition will be a great opportunity to see the arena, compete against a couple top-ranked teams and see how routines are judged.

"We don't know what to expect as judges go," she said. "Our only goals are performance-related, not what the judges give us."

The meet in southern California will be a homecoming for sophomore Nikki Smith. A native of Mira Loma, Smith said she remembers going to Pauley Pavilion to watch UCLA competitions when she was young.

"I always wanted to compete at Pauley Pavilion so this is a dream come true to compete there," she said.

This will be the first time Smith's family will see her compete in a collegiate meet. Smith said 40 to 50 family and friends will be on hand to cheer on her and the team.