It's been a long time since the storied Penn State women's gymnastics team has consistently been mentioned among the NCAAs elite programs.
A decade to be exact.
Since making the NCAA Championships 10 consecutive seasons from 1991-2000, the Nittany Lions have failed to make it in back-to-back years.
Senior Allie Southard got her first taste of the Championships last year and plans to put and end to that drought this year. A month into the Lions' preparations for the upcoming season, Southard likes where the team is.
"I think we're in a perfect spot right now," Southard said. "We just have to put our routines together, get some choreography for floor, maybe put halves together on bars and we're already doing routines on beams. So we're good."
The Lions didn't officially begin practice until Sept. 28, but they began preparing for the 2010 campaign this summer. All but three of the gymnasts stayed for at least one voluntary summer session to work on strength and conditioning.
Keeping up with routines and conditioning during the summer is essential to being ready once practice opens, coach Steve Shephard said. Without it, the shock of getting thrown back into gymnastics too quickly often leads to injuries.
"Gymnastics is not a seasonal kind of sport, and all of a sudden they come to college and you can take the summer off," Shephard said. "Which some do, and they come back in the fall and they end up getting hurt. Then they're like 'Well why did I get hurt?' Well, you gained 20 pounds, sweetie."
Senior Casey Rohrbaugh was one of the few gymnasts who stayed for the entire summer, working on fitness and routines at least twice a week.
"Gymnastics is kind of a hard thing to keep up with," Rohrbaugh said. "If you take time off, it takes double the time to come back. So, we definitely had to keep working on our skills."
Even with most of the team staying through the summer, the Lions were a little rusty when practice began in late September, which was to be expected Shephard said.
Since then, however, the Lions have picked it up and are on the right track with two months of practice left before they leave for their Jan. 8 quad meet in East Lansing, Mich. against Michigan State, West Virginia and Western Michigan.
"The team is completely different," senior Brandi Personett said regarding the Lions' improvement since they opened practice. "Had you seen us a month ago, it was shaky. From back then to now is a complete 180. The team is really looking good."
Still, with two months to go, the Lions have a long way before their routines finally come together and are physically ready for the season.
Mentally, however, they are right where they need to be.
"I think the whole mindset and the mentality is definitely there," senior Alex Brockway said. "It's just focusing on consistency, and the routines will come as the months go. But in general, we're definitely on a good path right now."
