Last year the Penn State women's gymnastics team finished 13th at the NCAA Championships, and failed to make the Super Six. Physically and mentally they were exhausted and needed a new gameplan to return to the upper echelons of women's collegiate gymnastics.
When the team takes the floor at 7 tonight in Gainesville, Fla. at the SEC Challenge, they will be aiming to reverse their misfortune of last year, and to prove their readiness and fitness early in the season.
In their first competition of the 2001-02 season, the team will face five other top schools, all ready to show off their talents and skills. In addition to top-ranked UCLA, Penn State will do battle with No. 2 Georgia, No. 4 Alabama, No. 7 Florida and a Lousiana State team that is on the rise.
According to head coach Steve Shephard, the meet will provide his team with a useful means of comparison with other schools.
"At SEC's, we will receive the chance to experience a really high level meet," Shephard said. "The atmosphere is similar to the national championship. It is a good experience for the girls, especially for those who have not competed before at the collegiate level."
Many of the women on the team agreed with Shephard.
"The SEC's are the best thing for us this season," junior co-captain Leslie Bair said. "We are in a much better position being ready and better prepared this year. It will be really good for us to see where we are compared to the other teams."
However, even with the better preparation and added enthusiasm, the SEC Challenge, which will have live scoring online at www.georgiadogs.com and will be broadcasted on a tape delay on Jan. 27 on ESPN, will be harder for Penn State than in years past due to a number of changes to their roster.
Without a doubt, the biggest obstacle for the team to overcome will be senior and co-captain Nikki Bongiovanni's shoulder reconstruction surgery which places her on the sidelines for the entire season, along with freshman Kate Stopper.
In addition, freshman recruit and former Canadian Olympian Emilie Fournier quit gymnastics due to personal reasons and Richelle Simpson has transferred to Nebraska for the upcoming season.
The large amount of injuries and withdrawals has resulted in a number of changes to the line-up from last season. First, junior Julie Stoloski has been allotted three events this season, instead of her regular balance beam, while fellow junior Dana Cuomo will tackle beam along with her specialty, uneven bars. In addition, the team will now have five all-arounders: Bair, Lisa Campagnolo, Katie McAvoy, Katie Rowland and Kelly Streicher.
Nonetheless, the team is still making every attempt to stay positive in the face of such adversity.
"We are just trying to slow down and take the year one meet at a time, and make nationals," Bair said. "Our main thing is to do what we can do and not pay attention to the outcome, but to just go in and do what we can to the best of our ability."
