"Without some of our mistakes, we could have been right up there with Georgia," Penn State coach Steve Shephard said.
Shephard described what he said were first-meet jitters that hurt Penn State: things like stepping out of bounds on a floor routine, falling off the beam and hopping a little bit on landings.
"The floor was bouncy, which makes it harder to land," senior Kate Stopper said.
Junior co-captain Meredith Hoover was one of two gymnasts to compete in the all-around for Penn State. Although she didn't post the team's high score in any event, she still finished tied for third place in the all-around event with a score of 38.825, a career best. Freshman Lindsay Borkan was the other Lion to compete in the all-around. She finished tied for 11th place with a score of 37.650 and had a team-high 9.775 on the floor exercise.
Fellow freshman Kristal Uzelac also tasted her first action as a collegiate. She posted a team-best 9.850 on the bars, good enough for second overall. In the last event, the vault, the Lions finished strong. Lisa Clark nailed her routine for a team-high 9.800 and a fourth-place tie. The Lions finished the event in third place as a team.
"We have struggled with [the vault] in years past, so that was good," Shephard said.
The Lions started on the bars and finished with a team score of 48.275. The next event was the beam, on which Stopper had the high score of 9.725 and the team scored a 47.775. After a bye, the Lions moved to the floor exercise. Orlando, Clark and Hoover, along with Stopper and Corissa Pirkl, finished behind Borkan and combined for a team score of 48.325. Florida finished in second (194.450), followed by Alabama (193.875) and Arizona (193.425). Iowa (190.725) finished sixth.
"We are still confident going into our next meet," Hoover said.
The Super Six Challenge was taped by ESPN and will air at 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 16, one day after Penn State opens its home schedule against Pittsburgh and Illinois.
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