The Penn State women's gymnastics team's quest for the NCAA championship will take it all the way to the other side of the country this weekend, when it travels to Seattle for the NCAA Regional Championships.

All that separates the No. 11 Nittany Lions from a bid into the NCAA Championships is 2,600 miles and a stellar performance at 8 p.m. tomorrow.

The Lions received the second seed in the West Region. The only other Big Ten school to earn a ranking that high was Michigan, also a No. 2 seed.

Penn State coach Steve Shephard said the team's spring break trip to compete against Boise State and Arizona State has helped to prepare it for this trip to the West Coast.

He said he doesn't expect the long journey to affect the team's performance.

"We felt like we did very well out there last time," Shephard said. "The team knows what they're in for and they feel confident."

The Lions will face some stiff competition in a region that includes No. 2 UCLA, No. 14 Central Michigan, No. 24 Washington, Stanford and Boise State.

The only team the Lions have faced from the West Region so far is Boise State, a meet Penn State won.

"These are very high-caliber teams," Shephard said. "But we aren't focused on that. The competition is irrelevant. The other team isn't going to knock us off the beam. It's not like we are developing a defensive scheme. We just have to go out there and do the best we can."

Even though the season rides on this competition, the Lions are not breaking any routines to prepare for it.

"We're treating it like any other meet," Shephard said. "This is a stepping stone to our ultimate goal of qualifying for the NCAA Championships."

The top two teams in each region will advance to the NCAA Championships at Auburn, Ala., on the weekend of April 21.

The Lions look to earn their 21st trip to the NCAA Championships, their first since placing seventh in 2000.

"We just want to go into the meet with confidence," Shephard said. "We just want everyone to do their job."