Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Penn State gymnast Lisa Clark will be at the finals of the NCAA National Championships at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles -- as a spectator. Heading into nationals, Clark was confident she could perform just as well or better than she had at regionals. The junior posted a career-high 9.95 on the vault and a 9.9 on the floor exercise, earning her first place at the Northeast Regionals and a plane ticket to Los Angeles.

Competing in her first event of the afternoon, Clark scored a 9.875 on the vault, matching her season average. However, average wasn't enough yesterday as Clark earned seventh place overall on the vault, finishing just 0.025 short of advancing to the finals.

"She did a nice job on the vault, but she didn't stick it," Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard said. "And if she had, I think should would be going to finals."

Prior to the meet, Shephard said the vault and the floor exercise were ea sy for Clark. Clark said she was at a peak and hoped to carry that intensity into nationals. But somewhere in between her vault routine and the floor exercise, that momentum was lost as Clark posted a 9.525 on the event.

"I bounced all over the place [on the floor]," Clark said. "I had too much energy and power, and I let it all out on the floor. I was a little too excited I guess. I wasn't holding back."

Clark wanted to bring a title back to her teammates, who did not qualify to compete as a team at nationals. And leaving them behind seemed to make all the difference in Clark's performance. Tagging on the end of powerhouse Georgia's rotation left Clark with a feeling of emptiness.

"It's very hard to qualify individually without a team," she said. "Going last without all of your teammates to boost your score is hard."

As the lone Nittany Lion competing, Clark wanted to strut her stuff to make Penn State proud. But she will be returning to State College on Sunday empty handed.

"I'm not completely satisfied but, hey, I figured it's a learning experience making it here," Clark said. "I was satisfied, but from my performance today I can still learn more and be better than I was today."

Shephard said Clark's taste of national competition made her even hungrier to return to the NCAA National Championships next year -- with her teammates.

"When I get home, I'm going to let the girls know about my experience and tell them that we definitely could have been here," Clark said. "We have confidence, and I'm over 100 percent sure that we can get here next year."