You could see the excitement in Leslie Bair's eyes as she took to the mat for her floor routine.

Her teammates lined the mat to watch her compete, encouraging her with each of her passes across the floor. As she locked eyes with her teammates halfway through her routine, her team, her coaches and the rest of the crowd that adorned Rec Hall could tell that something great was in the making.

And it was.

Penn State women's gymnast Leslie Bair proved Friday night that she is finally coming into her own.

Bair's performance Friday against Massachusetts garnered her a season best score on vault with a 9.725 and a career high score on floor with a 9.95.

"I thought she (Bair) did a very nice job," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said. "Her vault is improving."

Bair's high scores and consistent performance in the two events that she competed in on Friday helped her to win the Ann Carr Award.

The award is given out at every home meet to the gymnast who provides the most inspirational performance.

Bair looked surprised as her name was announced to receive the award. As she jogged out to the center of Rec Hall to accept her plaque a smile crept across her face.

"I'm really honored," Bair said. "I'm really happy with my competition. It's good to be home again."

Bair didn't get excited for just herself though.

She was more excited with the fact that her team broke another school record this weekend.

The Nittany Lions came out with a final score of 197.450 eclipsing their previous high score of 197.025 set against Alabama on Feb. 19, 1999.

The Lions also set new team records on both bars and floor scoring a 49.500 and a 49.725, respectively.

"I'm very excited," Bair said. "We needed some high team scores to get us up there. We've always been able to do it, but not put it together. Tonight we did."

Bair isn't the only one seeing the changes in both herself and her team. Shephard agrees that the team and Bair herself are beginning to perform up to the level that he knows they can.

"She (Leslie) is finally starting to get confidence," Shephard said. "She's starting to perform well."

The Lions are slated to face Maryland in College Park, Md. Saturday and Bair is ready for it.

With every meet her confidence is improving.

And with every meet she gets that much better.