With the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon taking over Rec Hall, the No. 18 Penn State women's gymnastics team (8-5,1-0 Big Ten) had to move to a new home Saturday night. The biggest question on the team's mind was whether or not the fans would come to the Bryce Jordan Center to cheer them on.
This was answered as the lights went off in the Jordan Center and the 4,142 fans erupted into a wild frenzy as spotlights introduced the Penn State men's and women's gymnastics teams.
"It was insane," senior Katie Rowland said. "Right from the beginning with the lights out and with the spotlights on us running in, it was awesome."
To top this off, BMX star and X-games participant Kevin Thompson brought down the house with his rendition of the national anthem.
This meet would be the first and only event of the season to showcase both the men's and women's gymnastics teams simultaneously.
"It was really cool to have the girls and the guys competing here at the same time," Penn State women's gymnastics assistant coach William Lorenz said.
The crowd would be engrossed in the meet all night long, which turned into another nail-biting victory for the Lions.
Crowd participation started heating up in the anticipation of Rowland (she scored a perfect 10.0 last week on vault) performing her vault routine. Although she would not receive a 10.0 this week, she still managed to salvage a 9.875 that earned her first-place honors in the event.
The Lions continued to feed off the crowd as Kelly Streicher, the meet's Ann Carr award winner, put together a great opening routine on the uneven bars. When she stuck the landing, the fans showed their approval.
"I have never won it [Ann Carr Award] before," Streicher said. "I've always thought that since I am only in one event, I would not be inspiring enough to win the award."
Moving into the final event, the Lions were losing a close battle to the Buckeyes by a score of 146.975 to 146.825. The only problem was that the Buckeyes were headed into their best event of the year, the balance beam. However, the Ohio State cheering section was quieted as the Buckeyes would suffer a fall on the beam.
"It is unfortunate because beam seems to be the event for us that is really flourishing, but tonight it wasn't," Ohio State women's gymnastics coach Larry Cox said.
"Penn State had a tremendous meet tonight." While flashing her smile to the crowd, senior co-captain Leslie Bair managed to put together a great lead-off routine on the floor exercise that earned her a 9.775 and an ecstatic hug from Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard. This would be followed by great performances by Katie McAvoy (9.850) and Rowland. With Rowland's smile radiating through the Jordan Center, she put together a great routine that resulted in her teammates chanting "10, 10, 10." Although the judges thought otherwise, they still gave her a 9.925 that secured the 195.875 to 195.325 victory over the Buckeyes.
"I just do what I do in practice and smile at the crowd and the judges and just sell it," Rowland said. "It felt great."
As the rowdy crowd began dispersing from the Jordan Center, the seniors were feeling a little down after a spectacular victory.
"It was sad," McAvoy said. "Leslie started crying and I started crying. I was like, 'What is wrong' and she was like 'This is our last meet in the BJC ever and I am going to miss this so much.' "
The women had done their part and the fans had made the confinements of the Bryce Jordan Center seem like a warm and cozy place to compete.
