Warren Yang twirled his feet in a circling cutting motion.
"Oh yeah," screamed someone from the Penn State men's gymnastics team sideline.
It was midway through the floor exercise routine when the encouraging statement came. For Yang, he knew it was going to be one of those nights.
The floor routine was almost complete. The junior needed one more hit. At a running start, Yang landed his last series of flips. A wail from the Penn State faithful extended throughout the air.
Penn State coach Randy Jepson changed his stance from one with crossed arms to a fist pump and greeted Yang with a handshake when the Canadian native walked back to his teammates. After the handshake, Jepson whispered something into Yang's ear.
"At the floor, he said, 'That's what I wanted to see from you,' " Yang said. "This is what he expected from me when I was recruited here."
Colin Hill high-fived Yang when he came back to the seating area. Casey Sandy also slapped hands with Yang as the announcer's address was heard across Rec Hall.
"Warren Yang scores a 15.400," the announcer said. "That's a Penn State season high."
After the routine, the crowd became increasingly louder. One woman in the stands could be heard asking another where Yang was from.
And although the Nittany Lions lost the floor event to Ohio State 59.350-58.900, their score was only .400 behind their season high and came without their best floor performer, Casey Sandy, who is ranked sixth in the event nationally.
But Yang stepped up into Sandy's role.
"I was thrilled for him because he's always been just a little short, just a little off," Jepson said.
Like floor, Yang's vault, parallel bar and high bar routines were neither short nor off. In every routine, Yang attained a season high and helped the Lions defeat the Buckeyes 347.600-346.500.
But it was the floor routine that may have been the most important. Josh Borromeo knew it from the crowd. The team captain said one of the reasons the crowd exploded was because it understood the value of Yang's routine. The crowd knew the junior had been struggling for a while.
"That floor set alone really helped him and the team with a lot of confidence," Borromeo said. "He was on fire today. I can't say enough about him today. Good job Warren Yang."
Yang's performance garnered him the Gene Wettstone Award, which is given to the best performer after every home meet.
Wettstone, who coached Penn State to nine NCAA titles, approached Yang afterward.
"I want to thank you for doing so well today," Wettstone said.
"Thanks, I'm glad I did it," Yang responded. "Hopefully, I can keep going like this."
Whether he keeps doing it or not, the fact remains he did it on Saturday. For Yang, it was just one of those nights.
