Friday, April 3, 1998

No. 1-seeded gymwomen in driver's seat at NE Regionals

By CRAIG YETSKO
Collegian Sports Writer

Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard offered a peculiar analogy about gymnastics and basketball.

He likened the gymnastics routine to a basketball player who steps up to the free throw line with no time left and the team down by a point.

Penn State gymnast Joanna Knox flies through the air on the uneven bars in Rec Hall earlier this season. The Lady Lions are the No. 1 seed at the Northeast Regionals beginning Saturday in Pittsburgh. (Collegian Photo/Wendy L. Zeller - click for full size image)

"You don't think about the shot. You just focus on putting the ball in the hoop," Shephard said. "We focus on what we have to do to hit the routines."

And that is what the No. 18 Lady Lions have been doing in preparation for the Northeast Regionals at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Fitzgerald Field House in Pittsburgh. The winner of the tournament earns an automatic trip to the NCAA National Championships at UCLA.

Practices have gone well, Shephard said, especially on vault. He said freshman Heather Duggan and junior Ellen Casey have done their best vaulting all season in the past two weeks. Junior Missy Leopoldus may attempt a pike half vault, which has a 10.0 start value, if she successfully completes her first routine, a tuck front with a half twist.

"If she gets a good first vault under her belt, I'll let her do the pike half," Shephard said. "She's completed it before but she hasn't landed on her feet."

The Lions, seeded No. 1 going into the competition, have won this tournament the past three years. With a lineup that has remained healthy the past month, the team is optimistic that a trip to Los Angeles is within reach.

"We're in the best position we've been in since I've been at Penn State," senior Joanna Knox said. "We're all pretty confident that we are going to make it."

The team that may create a roadblock for Penn State to complete this task is Ohio State. Both teams have seen each other twice this year, with the Buckeyes defeating the Lions in February at Rec Hall and Penn State exacting its revenge at Big Tens.

"They were pretty disappointed," Ohio State coach Larry Cox said. "We had Big Tens during finals week. This group was pretty drained when we got there."

Cox said his team has had time to forget about what happened at Big Tens and concentrate on this weekend. Having a solid week of practice and time to rest a bit during their spring break has helped the Buckeyes gain confidence.

"They're ready physically," he said. "We're the healthiest we've been since midseason. We just hope to put it altogether."