Every college gymnastics team sets its sights on the Super Six, the final four of gymnastics, at the end of the season.
This past weekend saw the Penn State women's gymnastics team in the Super Six Challenge at the University of Georgia.
Even though the Nittany Lions placed fifth in the competition, it was better than last year's sixth-place finish. But most importantly, Penn State demonstrated that it could compete with anyone.
"If we had the performance we are capable of," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said, "we would have been right in the hunt."
The Super Six Challenge opened up a new season and a new look to women's gymnastics in Happy Valley.
"Compared to last year, we have a ton of new skills and a ton of new difficulty," senior co-captain Leslie Bair said.
These new skills and difficulty can be associated with the new freshmen, a comeback gymnast, and a large senior class that is motivated to do well.
Freshman gymnasts Jennifer Orlando, Meredith Hoover and Michelle Ilg (Erin Clayton did not make the trip due to an injury) needed to contribute positively, and they did.
"Michelle, Jen and Meredith all handled the competitive situation," Bair said. "Their attitudes were great and they performed great and it was a really good showing for them."
Orlando scored a 9.675 in the floor exercise, a 9.625 on the balance beam, and a 9.225 on the uneven parallel bars, while Hoover collected a 9.600 in the floor exercise, a 9.650 on the beam, and a 9.675 on the vault, respectively. Ilg also contributed with a 9.650 on the vault.
"Jen [Orlando] did great," Shephard said. "She has really stepped it up a notch and she has done everything we have asked her to do and she has performed well."
With all of the excitement of the big-name schools and 9,320 spectators looking on, one might think that it would catch up to the newcomers.
"It was amazing. It was a totally different experience than competing in club [gymnastics]," Orlando said. "I was really nervous, but when I was out there competing, the feeling just went away."
Besides the freshmen, the senior trio of Nikki Bongiovanni, who is staging a comeback from a shoulder injury she sustained last season, Katie McAvoy and Katie Rowland put together ninth, 10th and 12th-place finishes respectively in the all-around to pace the team.
Rowland, defending Big Ten Champion in the all-around, had a superb day on the vault. Her score of a 9.950 was good enough to put herself in a three-way tie with Georgia's Chelsa Byrd and Alabama's Ashley Miles for first place in the event.
On the other hand, Bair, a solid performer for the team, did not compete due to a partially torn LCL in her knee.
"Hopefully within the next couple weeks I should be at full force," she said. "It's hard. You just put yourself in your teammates and try not to focus on yourself and do what they say to do to get better and get back out there. You just have to be patient."
With the Super Six Challenge under the mat for this season, the Lions look forward to finding an internal flame to return to the tradition of women's gymnastics that is rich and enduring at Penn State.
"There has just been an internal drive in all of us," Bair said. "We have a huge senior class and we have been wanting to make it to Nationals for three years now and this is our last shot at it."
