Alabama (No. 5) and Georgia (No. 2) tied to take home the first place title with a score of 195.35. Stanford (No. 7) finished in third with 195.3. Big Ten foe Michigan (No. 3) finished in fourth with 194.475. Florida (No. 10) found itself in fifth place only .05 points behind Michigan with 194.425.
Penn State rounded out the competition with a 193.275.
"We could've been right in there on all the events," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said. "We were a little rough. It was our first meet. I think we just need a little more time.
"It's just a matter of getting them to believe they are a good team and that they could be a great team."
Penn State finished in last place in two events — the uneven bars and the beam, events that Penn State was solid in last year.
However, the loss of Big Ten champion Nikki Smith and Ashley Wilson to graduation has created a void that other Nittany Lions will have to fill.
Penn State's Maria Taylor did just that.
She finished tied for tenth place on the beam with a score of 9.775 and tied for 14th on the uneven bars with the same score.
After being out with an injury for over a year, Penn State junior Nikki Bongiovanni returned to action this weekend with performances on the beam and vault. After falling, Bongiovanni brought in a score of 9.125 on the beam.
Despite the fall from the beam, Bongiovanni wasn't entirely disappointed in her performance.
"For me, it just feels good to be out there competing again," Bongiovanni said.
Leading the Lions overall was freshman Richelle Simpson who landed a 10th place finish in the all-around with a score of 38.725, including a 6th place finish on vault with a 9.8.
This season, competitors will only get one shot at nailing their vaults, unlike previous years where the gymnasts received two chances and got to choose the better of the two to count toward their score.
"I think it (the change in scoring) will make decisions a little more conservative since you only get one try," Shephard said. "You have to make sure the athlete will be on their feet."
And this weekend, Shephard knew just who to go to for the results he wanted.
Sophomore Katie Rowland and Gemma Cuff brought in vaults of 9.775 and 9.75 respectively, finishing with scores of 38.5 and 38.475, bringing home 15th and 16th place finishes in the all-around.
For Cuff, 16th wasn't good enough. When asked if she was happy with her performance, she was quick to answer.
"No. I need to work a lot more on my confidence," Cuff said.
"I need to be more aggressive. It was good for a first performance, but I know I can be so much better."
Just as expected, the Lions best event was the floor. They finished third with a score of 49.025, beating Florida, Michigan and Stanford. Cuff and Rowland brought in scores of 9.875 and sophomore Leslie Bair added to the team's depth on floor scoring a 9.85.
Cuff and Rowland's high scores garnered them their 4th place finishes in the event. Bair ended up in seventh.
"This was a great learning experience," Shephard said.
"It was a great eye opener competing in front of 10,000 people on national TV How do you say this? It was a great way to start the season."
The Super Six Challenge will be rebroadcast at 3 p.m. Jan. 21 on ESPN.
The Nittany Lions will be in action again before that time. The team travels to Illinois Saturday.
