In their first meet of the season, the Penn State women's gymnastics team traveled to Gainesville, Fla. to compete against five of the top squads in the nation. When they finished sixth, they knew there were many mistakes to be fixed, and confidence to gain.

On Friday night, the No. 19 Nittany Lions (4-8) again journeyed to Gainesville, to take on No. 7 Stanford, No. 14 Florida and the University of Illinois-Chicago. Once again, the team could not quite pull off the win, but did achieve some moral victories of sort.

Florida won the meet before a home crowd of 2,473 with a score of 196.900, followed by Stanford with 195.700, Penn State with 195.325, and Illinois-Chicago in fourth with 194.175. The Lions set a season high of 49.175 on vault, and garnered scores of 48.500 on bars, 48.950 on floor and 48.700 on beam.

"I think we did a good but not great job tonight," coach Steve Shephard said. "We struggled a bit on bars and floor, which was a disappointment, but did just great on vault, and good on beam. We were really proud to be less than four tenths behind Stanford, who is ranked high in the nation, but still recognize that there is work to be done."

Junior Katie Rowland captured her third all-around title of the season with a 39.425, followed closely by teammates and fellow juniors Katie McAvoy in third with a 39.200 and captain Leslie Bair in fourth with a 39.025.

Rowland continued her dominance by claiming the floor title with a 9.900, along with the highest team score on beam of 9.825. With a 9.950 on vault, Rowland also tied her career high and matched the school record. McAvoy tied Rowland with a 9.825 on beam, and led the team with her 9.925 on bars.

Along with Rowland and McAvoy, various other team members stepped it up for the squad.

"Leslie was 4-for-4 tonight, and scored her highest all-around total ever," Shephard said. "Lisa (Campagnolo) did a fantastic vault, Julia (Stoloski) had her career best on floor with a 9.750 and Dana (Cuomo) did a great beam routine. Dina (Sulyma) also did wonderfully for us with a 9.825 on floor."

Indeed, for team captain Bair, her performance had special meaning: it was her 21st birthday.

"I was really happy for myself and for the team tonight," Bair said. "I really needed to hit after a couple of down meets, and it was wonderful to achieve a career high in the all-around on my birthday. Stanford and Florida are always fun to compete against and it was a big night for me."

For some squads, competing against two top teams may be intimidating, but the Lions handled the challenge with poise and advice from their coach.

"The competition is obviously motivating for us, but we try not to focus on that," Shephard said. "We concentrate on doing the best job we can, and the competition is irrelevant. Unlike some other sports, the other teams have no bearing upon us, and it is up to us to hit or miss."

The Lions next face the No. 5 Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Neb. on March 3.