Spring break had its ups and downs for the No. 11 Penn State women's gymnastics team.

When it was all said and done, the team came home with a loss against unranked Maryland and a first place finish at the Burnsley Invitational against No. 10 Florida, No. 26 Denver and unranked Air Force.

"We were disappointed with it (the finish against Maryland), but it's the nature of the sport," Penn State sophomore Leslie Bair said. "We just had to take some of the scores we got and pay attention to how the gymnastics were."

Penn State finished with a 195.350 behind Maryland's 195.500.

"I think our performance was not characteristic quality of a Penn State team," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said. "We gave a lot of little things away. It was a gutsy performance. The team fought hard and the effort was there, the performance was just a little less than what we needed."

Despite the loss, Penn State sophomore Katie Rowland, currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in the all-around competition, took home first place on the vault for the fourth time this season with a 9.875 and finished tied for second in the all-around with a 39.300. Rowland's all-around score was the highest among the Nittany Lions.

Senior co-captain Maria Taylor brought home Penn State's other first place finish on beam scoring a 9.900. The first place finish on the apparatus is Taylor's third this season.

Maryland's score was a season best for the team. The Terps also recorded season-high scores on vault (48.800), bars (49.175), and floor (49.200) against Penn State with all-around winner Lisa Mealey also scoring her season best of 39.375.

But when Penn State traveled to Denver it was a different story.

Penn State was the team bringing home new school records and career bests.

Penn State placed first with a 195.375 over Florida's 195.150, Denver's 194.650 and Air Force's 194.075.

"This meet was a little different," Rowland said. "Only nine traveled and we worked with that. We were super loud and energetic. Everyone played a part."

Penn State did more than beat the other teams there — it bested itself. Penn State's score of 49.250 on vault sets a new school record in the event. The Lions posted additional scores of 49.100 on bars, 48.275 on beam and a 48.750 on floor.

Junior Nikki Bongiovanni tied for first place on bars scoring a career-best 9.925 and sophomore Katie McAvoy tied for second on vault with a 9.925, which also represents a career-high for the gymnast.

Penn State's Katie Rowland took home the all-around title with a score of 39.550, after finishing first on vault with a 9.950 and tied for second on beam with a 9.900, along with Bair.

After breaking records all season, the Lions are scheduled to finish their regular season this weekend when they take on No. 3 Alabama, Rutgers and Cornell Saturday at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall.