All season long the Penn State women's gymnastics team has wanted to put it all together. It finally accomplished this feat at the Big Ten Championships in Illinois Saturday night, en route to a third-place finish with a score of 196.650.

No. 10 Michigan captured the Big Ten title for the fifth consecutive time while scoring a season-high 197.450, No. 17 Iowa placed second for the first time since 1991 by posting a 196.850. No. 21 Minnesota finished fourth (195.425), No 14 Ohio State fifth (194.975), while Illinois (193.575) and Michigan State (193.425) rounded out the field.

The Nittany Lions set a new season record by eclipsing the 195.875 barrier earned against Ohio State earlier this year.

"I am very proud of the team, we showed a lot of poise, a lot of character, and we still have room for improvement," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said.

"They are coming into their own as a team at the end of the year when it really counts during the championship season."

Senior Katie Rowland stole the spotlight as she brought home the all-around title (39.625) for the second consecutive year, the vault title by scoring the only perfect 10.0 in competition at the championships this season, and her second Big Ten Gymnast of the Year title in her career. Michigan's Calli Ryals and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jenny Deiley tied for second in the all-around with a 39.575. Rowland also was the lone Lion to be on the first team All-Big Ten squad.

"It is just an amazing and emotional year," Rowland said. "Winning the all-around and winning Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, it is amazing."

Penn State began the night on floor exercise, which saw Michigan's Calli Ryals and Iowa's Stephanie Gran take home the title with a 9.950 and Rowland placing the highest for the Lions by earning a 9.850, good enough for eighth place.

After a bye, the Lions moved to vault and shined brighter than ever. Rowland's 10.0 in the event is the first 10.0 by a Lion at the championships since 2000, when Nikki Smith earned a 10.0 on the balance beam. The perfect score on vault is also the first at the championships since Michigan's Heather Kabnick and Beth Wymer each posted a 10.0 in the event in 1995.

"I think all of us are extremely proud of TK [Rowland], she was just amazing tonight," senior co-captain Leslie Bair said. "She was on and it was so exciting to watch her and be able to have her on our team, it makes us proud."

Senior Katie McAvoy tied for second place in the event with Iowa's Alexis Maday and Ohio State's Jill Weber by scoring a 9.900.

On the uneven bars, Rowland and McAvoy tied for seventh with Minnesota's Mary Skokut and Ohio State's Megan Porter with a 9.875, while Iowa's Maday and Michigan's Deiley tied for the event title with a 9.950.

With the Lions putting together a memorable performance, they ended on the balance beam, with senior Nikki Bongiovanni starting the team on a positive note by contributing a 9.850 and freshman Meredith Hoover later added the same to tie with Bongiovanni for the eighth-place position.

"It was probably one of the most amazing meets I have been apart of since I have been at Penn State because our energy level was through the roof," Bongiovanni said.

Rowland and sophomore Kate Stopper, who set a career high in this event, each posted a 9.900 on beam, good enough for fourth place. Michigan's Janessa Grieco claimed the beam title with a 9.950.

"Seeing that I can score up there with the best of them really has boosted my confidence in knowing that I can be one of the best gymnasts," Stopper said. "I can be like Katie Rowland or whoever else has gone to Penn State."

The third-place finish improves on last year's final-place result in the championships and this can be attributed to a superb team effort.

"We were a great team tonight," Penn State women's gymnastics assistant coach William Lorenz said. "Everyone was doing it for the team, there were no individuals, we were all doing it together."