Gymwomen, Stanford have more in common than meets the eye

By GWENN MILLER
Collegian Staff Writer

Even though they are in different athletic conferences and rarely meet in competition, the Stanford and Penn State women's gymnastics teams have some uncanny connections.

The No. 5 Lady Lions will face No. 8 Stanford at 7 p.m. tonight at the Maples Pavilion in a meet that could help improve the Lions' points standing in their run at the Big Ten Championship. At the same time, the Cardinal are also looking to get back to the top.

Despite being on opposite coasts of the country, Penn State (5-0) and Stanford (3-1) are close for several reasons. For starters, both are defending championship teams. In 1998, the Lions won the NCAA Northeast Regional title while the Cardinal captured the Pac-10 Championship. The teams' winning ways have carried into the 1999 season.

"Penn State is on fire and they're doing really well," said Cardinal coach Mark Cook, adding that he is pleased with his team's current performance.

Last weekend's competitions were high points in both teams' seasons. Stanford's uneven bars team set a new school record with a score of 49.475 and individuals improved their scores as well.

On the East Coast, the Lions were involved in a similar scenario. The team set scoring records and senior Missy Leopoldus scored the first perfect 10 in the history of the women's program.

"It will be good to be on the road against a tough team and prove ourselves once again," Leopoldus said of the team's outlook for the meet.

As close as both teams are in the numbers department, they are connected in the personnel department as well.

Stanford assistant coach Rene Lyst graduated from Penn State in 1993 after an extremely successful career. She set individual records on the balance beam in 1991 and 1993, and was the regional champion those same years. In 1992, she was the Big Ten champion in the same event.

Lyst moved into the coaching field after graduation and was an assistant to Lions head coach Steve Shephard during the 1997 season.

"She's a quality person and she brings a lot of enthusiasm to the sport," Shephard said, adding that he and Lyst had a good coaching relationship.

At Stanford, Lyst and Cook also have a solid coaching relationship, but it has a slight twist -- the two are engaged.

Lyst and Cook met while on recruiting trips for different schools and struck up a long-distance relationship. Shortly after, Lyst and Cook were offered their current positions at Stanford.

Even though the environment at Stanford is different from Penn State, Lyst is enjoying it and is glad for the chance to be involved in gymnastics.

And since the two teams are living in parallel universes at the moment, she doesn't have far to look if she ever misses Penn State.