Perfection can be defined as the highest attainable state or degree of excellence.

On Saturday, in the Big Ten Championships, Penn State senior gymnast Katie Rowland achieved perfection on the vault exercise.

Sprinting toward the apparatus at full speed, Rowland hit the vault in stride and began her pike-front-half routine with relative ease. Landing flawlessly, Rowland raised her hands and leaned her head back as the crowd erupted in applause.

With chants of "Ten, Ten" filtering through Illinois' Huff Hall, Rowland ran to the Penn State women's gymnastics team's enclosed waiting area, where the group celebrated the unblemished performance with high-fives and screams.

"It was a perfect vault, and she totally stuck the landing," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said. "She didn't give the judges any opportunity to give her anything but a 10." Of the four judges, three awarded Rowland a perfect score, with the final judge scoring Rowland's routine a 9.900. With the highest and lowest scores being erased, Rowland was left with two marks of 10.0, giving her a perfect score on the event.

"If they didn't give her a 10, everybody would have wanted to see the deductions," Penn State women's gymnastics assistant coach Jess Bastardi said. "Her routine was textbook, it was beautiful."

Michigan women's gymnastics coach Beverly Plocki was one of the many who witnessed and enjoyed Rowland's achievement. "If it were possible to earn an 11, Rowland should have received that score," Plocki said. Rowland shined in the other three exercises as well, scoring a 9.875 on the uneven parallel bars, 9.900 on the balance beam, and 9.850 on the floor routine on her way to earning a second consecutive Big Ten all-around title with a 39.625. According to Rowland, the all-around championship is a prestigious and amazing honor.

"It's nice to be able to go out with a bang and give the team a boost with regionals approaching," Rowland said. "It's amazing that four years have already gone by." The perfect mark on the vault was Rowland's second on the event and third overall this season. Rowland scored a 10.0 on the vault on Feb. 16 at West Virginia and found perfection on the balance beam on March 14 in a quad meet at Rec Hall.