The Penn State women's gymnastics team finished second for the third year in a row Saturday at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich.

And for the third year in a row, Michigan was the team to beat them.

"I think we showed a lot of heart," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said. "It was a pressure-packed situation. We did well, but we can do better."

Penn State finished the seven-team meet, which included Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Minnesota, with a 196.425, behind Michigan's 197.150. Behind Penn State were Minnesota (195.750), Ohio State (195.425), Iowa (195.400) and Michigan State (193.975).

The Nittany Lions brought home scores of 49.05 on vault, 49.250 on bars, 48.775 on beam and a 49.35 on the floor exercise.

"We need to be solid and crisp," Shephard said. "We were the only team to stay on the beam. We survived, but we can do better than that. And on vaulting, we need to improve our landings. We only had one stuck landing."

The meet was definitely a team effort with many different Lions contributing to the Lions finish. Senior Gemma Cuff finished tied for fourth on floor with a 9.925. Fellow senior co-captain Maria Taylor and junior Nikki Bongiovanni finished eighth on bars with a 9.875. Sophomore Katie Rowland was the Lions top scorer on the beam with a 9.825 and in the all-around scored a 39.450. Sophomore Katie McAvoy also finished high in the all-around with a 39.100, for fourth place.

"I was happy with my individual performance, but coming in first doesn't matter as long as the team did well," McAvoy said.

Iowa's Alexis Maday took home the first place finish in the all-around with a 39.650. Maday also finished first on floor with a 9.975. Both of Maday's scores set new school records and led to her being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Also competing in this year's Big Ten championship was Michigan's Elise Ray, a member of the 2000 Olympic gymnastics team. Ray scored a 9.95 on bars and floor and got an all-around score of 39.075.

Penn State's biggest honor came at the end of the night with Rowland being named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year. The honor was voted on by the coaches in the Big Ten.

"It was a great feeling," Rowland said. "I was honored to represent Penn State."

Penn State is off this weekend for the first time since the season began. The Lions will use the next two weeks of practice to prepare for the NCAA Regional Championships on April 7.