Gymwomen spring past three squads


Monday, March 2, 1998	Gymwomen spring past three squads By CRAIG YETSKO Collegian Sports Writer A week ago at UCLA, the Penn State women's gymnastics team did what it needed to do to gain a high overall score. Falls were kept to a bare minimum and routines had a high degree of difficulty. But the scoring did not reflect that.
`Penn State Women's Gymnastics Home Page`	During last week's practice, the Lady Lions knew if they repeated the performance they did in California, the final result would be different. Saturday night, Penn State had no doubt it could score as high as the top teams in the nation. Before an enthusiastic crowd of 3,221 at Rec Hall, the No. 12 Lions not only rebounded from their third-place finish at the Bruin Classic, but shattered the school record of 195.225 with a 195.725, previously set at last season's Pennsylvania Championships. Arizona took second with a score of 194.475, No. 7 West Virginia was third (192.925) and Temple was fourth (186.775).
Penn State gymnast Ellen Casey flies through the air above the balance beam Saturday at Rec Hall. The Lady Lions got the best of Arizona, West Virginia and Temple. (Collegian Photo/Andrea Elizabeth Kohler - click for full size image)	"I think we had a lot of enthusiasm and more importantly we really just had fun tonight," junior Ellen Casey said. "We wanted to get a good score, but the way you do that is you focus on what you need to do, but you also get excited when good things happen." Penn State not only took the top spot in the team scoring but it also dominated the individual competition. Freshman Gemma Cuff won the all-around with a score of 39.6, just .025 points away from tying junior Missy Leopoldus' Penn State record. Cuff finished in first place on vault (9.95), which tied the Penn State record held by senior Joanna Knox, and tied for second on bars (9.875), beam (9.875) and floor (9.9). Her evening was complete as she was awarded the Ann Carr Award which was presented by University President Graham Spanier. "I was shocked. I didn't think I was going to get it," Cuff said. "It was an honor to get the award." Casey also had a fantastic night as she was second in the all-around with a score of 39.325. She ended the floor rotation with a nearly flawless routine which earned her a 9.95, tying the mark she set on the event last year. Lion coach Steve Shephard called Casey's floor exercise, "very exciting."
Lady Lion gymnast Gemma Cuff lands on the balance beam after jumping on. Cuff finished second in the beam in Penn State's win over Arizona and West Virginia. (Collegian Photo/Andrea Elizabeth Kohler - click for full size image)	"I thought she landed everything extremely well," he said. "All of her tumbling was beautiful and her dance we've rearranged to make it a little easier for her to get credit on certain things, so I think it really worked to her advantage." The competition marked the return of Leopoldus and freshman Maria Taylor to the lineup. Despite an 8.575 on bars, Leopoldus settled down and on the next event, beam, she recorded a 9.875 which put her in a tie for second place with Cuff on the event. Taylor competed on only one apparatus but she made the best of it. She received a 9.9 on beam which set her career high. "I was amazed that she made her series," Shephard said. "I was watching from the end and she was completely off the beam but somehow through sheer willpower pulled it back on." Arizona encountered some trouble on its first rotation, beam, as Tenli Poggemeyer received a 8.975 and Nancy Milberger scored 9.0. However, the Wildcats regrouped and finished strong on the rest of their events as they did not count a fall after beam. "We started out with a couple falls on beam and I said, 'Uh-oh, this could be a long night,' " Arizona coach Jim Gault said. "But then we got ourselves together and looked like we settled down and did a pretty decent job the rest of the way." Wildcat Kara Fry was third in the all-around with a 39.25, a career high and a school record. She was tied for second on bars (9.875) and beam (9.875). "She was very steady tonight," Gault said. "She hardly had a bobble anywhere."