Trio brings home awards

By GWENN MILLER
Collegian Staff Writer

The Penn State women's gymnastics team may have finished second at the Big Ten Championships, but its efforts over the course of the entire season surpassed those of the rest of the conference.

After the Big Ten meet last Saturday, several Lady Lions and their coach were honored with some of the conference's major awards. Coach Steve Shephard won the Big Ten Coach of the Year Award along with Michigan's Beverly Plocki. Shephard said he was pleasantly surprised that his peers voted for him, but it was still a bittersweet evening.

"I have mixed feelings about it," he said. "Obviously I would have preferred to win the team award."

Although Shephard won the Regional Coach of the Year award in 1998, it was Shephard's first Big Ten coaching honor. Likewise, freshman Nikki Bongiovanni was also a stranger to the awards platform.

Bongiovanni has definitely made a significant and positive impact on Penn State's success despite her inexperience in collegiate-level gymnastics. The freshman was a consistent performer and filled in on many events throughout the year. At Nebraska on March 13, Bongiovanni competed in the all-around competition for the first time and won, earning praise from her teammates and coaches. Saturday, she earned the recognition of the conference when she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

"It was great and really amazing," Bongiovanni said. "I really didn't expect it. It was kind of the last thing on my mind that night."

Bongiovanni said winning the individual award was nice, but she would also like to see the team as a whole recognized. While she would like to continue to have a successful individual career, she wants more to be part of a team that is constantly improving.

Senior Ellen Casey has also enjoyed an illustrious career at Penn State, earning All-American honors, scoring a perfect 10 and breaking numerous school records. That paid off when Casey brought home the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year title, the second consecutive year a Lady Lion has won the award.

Casey said it was definitely a great honor, but the award did not make up for the fact that the Lions finished second at the meet. However, she added that winning all three of the major Big Ten awards is a huge credit to Penn State gymnastics.

"It definitely goes to show that our program is well respected and is being credited to a total team effort," Casey said.

In addition to sweeping the Big Ten awards, Missy Leopoldus, Casey, Nikki Smith and Gemma Cuff were named to the All-Big Ten team.

The selection process for the major Big Ten awards begins with each school nominating a team member for each of the major categories. The head coaches then vote on the nominees, and, following the meet, plaques are presented to the winners.