Someone was missing during the Penn State women's gymnastics meet Saturday against New Hampshire. A friend, a teammate, a spirit — New Hampshire gymnast Katie Baldwin.

The fact that Penn State had just won the dual meet was the last thing on Penn State gymnast Leslie Bair's mind as she stood in front of her team, the visiting Wildcats, and the 2,091 fans in attendance at Rec Hall to honor the short life of her longtime friend.

"Most people walk in and out of your life, but only friends leave footprints," Bair concluded, choking back tears.

As she finished her dedication, the Penn State gymnasts handed the New Hampshire team members flowers in honor of the late Baldwin. And whatever team rivalries may have existed during the meet, melted away. As the teams embraced, they became one in mourning the loss of the 20-year-old gymnast whose life had been taken nearly three months earlier.

Baldwin collapsed while training in the weight room at the New Hampshire Field House at approximately 5 p.m. on Oct. 30, a New Hampshire press release said. She was taken by ambulance to Dover's Wentworth-Douglass Hospital and then transferred to Portsmouth Regional Hospital.

Baldwin was being treated for a pulmonary embolism, which is the obstruction of a pulmonary artery or one of its branches, sometimes due to a blood clot. The pulmonary arteries carry blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs and when this is blocked the blood can no longer flow freely to the lungs.

According to hospital spokesperson Karen Emery, Baldwin was in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit and remained in a coma while being transferred to Brigham Women's Hospital in Boston the following day. She passed away Saturday morning, Nov. 4, nearly five days after her collapse.

"Katie's loss is not just a loss to the gymnastics program, but to the entire university," New Hampshire President Joan Leitzel said in a press release at the time of Baldwin's death.

And that university, along with the entire gymnastics community, did not hesitate to reach out when the New Hampshire gymnastics team and the Baldwin family needed its support the most.

According to New Hampshire coach Gail Goodspeed, the university paid for the travel arrangements of the team so it could attend Baldwin's funeral in her home state of Pennsylvania.

"At her funeral there were flowers from every school and club team you could think about," Bair said. "It was amazing how much support was out there."

In addition to the flowers, tributes were made in various gymnastics magazines and college gymnastics magazines. A scholarship, the Katie Baldwin Gymnastics Scholarship, has also been set up in her name honoring her life and her accomplishments.

Baldwin was a biology/pre-med major at New Hampshire, where she accumulated a 3.81 GPA through last spring. Her high marks earned her a spot on the Dean's List for four semesters and she garnered both Scholastic and EAGL All-Academic honors as well as the Dean's Scholarship Award.

And her accolades as an athlete were even more impressive. Baldwin had career-highs of 9.75 on bars, 9.575 on beam and a 9.6 on floor and had been named New Hampshire's Most Improved Gymnast in 1999.

"Katie was a tremendous dancer and performer," Goodspeed said. "Her strongest event was the floor exercise."

In honor of Baldwin's spirit and joy, New Hampshire has set up the Katie Baldwin Expression Award, which is given at every home meet to one gymnast.

According to a New Hampshire press release, Baldwin was a 1997 Olympic National Competitor and a member of the Region 7 team. In 1995, she was the level 9 State and Sectional Champion on bars, beam and the all-around. She repeated these same feats at level 10 in 1996. Katie trained with Prestige Gymnastics in Lancaster, Pa., and set their record for the highest scores on beam, bars, floor and the all-around.

And that's where Bair met Baldwin.

"I knew her in high school," Bair said. "We got really close. We trained over 20 hours a week together.

"She was very energetic, really fun, and she was enthusiastic about everything."

But in college they went their separate ways, with Bair at Penn State and Baldwin at New Hampshire. But that didn't affect their friendship. So when Bair had the chance to say something on Saturday night, she did.

"I didn't want it to go unmentioned," Bair said. "My coach Jess (Bastardi) and I decided I would write something up and do something for her."

And so when Bair spoke in Rec Hall Saturday night everyone listened — and those who knew Baldwin let the grieving process continue.

"After something like this you go through the grieving process and help everyone deal," Goodspeed said. "You be each others support. Probably the best thing for the team was getting back into normal college life and just excepting those things out of your control."

Note: The address for the scholarship made in Baldwin's name is: Katie Baldwin Gymnastics Scholarship, University of New Hampshire Foundation, Elliot Alumni Center, Edgewood Road, Durham, N.H., 03824.