Weathering the competition
Gymwomen defeat North Carolina State after travel difficulties

By GWENN MILLER
Collegian Staff Writer

For the second week in a row, the weather was a factor in the Penn State women's gymnastics team's competition.

This time, it was the Lady Lions who had to deal with the inclement conditions.

Last week Penn State hosted UCLA, which had numerous problems traveling to State College. This past weekend, No. 4 Penn State (3-0) made the trip to North Carolina State and had to contend with flight delays and more than 15 hours of traveling in one day.

Instead of dwelling on the problem, Penn State defeated the Wolfpack by a score of 191.525-188.925.

N.C. State came into the meet with a 1-0 record, and sophomore Amy Langendorf just had been named the EAGL Gymnast of the Week. The Wolfpack seemed to have the momentum swinging in their direction.

The Lions, on the other hand, were still trying to cope with the loss of senior tri-captain Janae Whittaker due to a knee injury suffered in the victory over UCLA. They were fatigued from the long journey to Reynolds Coliseum and could easily have turned in a half-hearted effort.

Instead, the Lions won the meet convincingly, and for the third week in a row, senior tri-captain Missy Leopoldus won the all-around competition with a score of 38.050. Once again, they overcame the difficult challenge.

"We don't let distractions and things we can't control affect us," said senior tri-captain Ellen Casey.

Casey's performance on floor exercise was one of the reasons for Penn State's win. She scored a 9.85 and won the event at the same time, leading the Lion floor team to a victory as well.

"I think it's the best routine I've done this season," she said.

The Wolfpack actually won on the uneven bars and the balance beam, but the Lions were too powerful on the vault and floor exercise. On the vault, Penn State took the top five spots in the competition. The Lions battled until the end and their efforts paid off. However, their biggest challenge may have been just getting to the meet.

The team's flight was cancelled from State College due to fog. Instead the Lions took a bus to Harrisburg in order to catch a flight, but again found that flights were cancelled there. They then took a bus to Washington D.C. and finally were able to fly to North Carolina.

"We did our best to block it out," said freshman Nikki Bongiovanni, who turned in a solid bars performance, finishing second. Fellow freshman, Jennifer Drilling tied for first in the vault.

Though the road-weary Lions won their third meet in a row, they missed the familiarity of Rec Hall.

"The first away meet is always an adjustment," said Casey. "We don't have the energy of a Rec Hall crowd."

Fortunately for the Lions, they will be back at Rec Hall this weekend to host Florida at 7 p.m. Saturday.