STATE COLLEGE, Pa., April 6, 2002 -- The Penn State women's gymnastics team closed out their season tonight in Rec Hall as they hosted the Northeast Regional Championships. The team finished fifth with a score of 192.225. The University of Nebraska finished first with a score of 195.925, followed by Big Ten Champion, University of Michigan with a score of 195.600. These top two teams will advance to National Championships on April 19-21, 2002 at the University of Alabama. The University of Iowa came very close to qualifying, as they finished behind Michigan with a score of 195.475. George Washington University finished in fourth place with a score of 192.675, and Pittsburgh finished in sixth place, scoring 190.975.

Penn State scored 48.275 on vault, 48.250 on bars, 47.600 on beam (following three falls) and 48.100 on floor exercise.

Junior Katie Rowland (Georgetown, Ontario) suffered falls on both floor exercise and balance beam. She finished in third place on vault, scoring a 9.900, while scoring a 9.775 on uneven bars. Junior co-captain Leslie Bair (Lancaster, Pa.) turned in a strong performance for the Lions. She scored a 9.775 on vault, 9.725 on floor and fourth-place 9.825 on balance beam. She finished 12th in the individual all-around competition. Junior Katie McAvoy (Winnipeg, Manitoba) returned to action tonight, just three weeks after suffering an ankle injury against West Virginia. She performed on uneven bars (9.675) and balance beam.

In the all-around competition, Michigan's Elise Ray and Iowa's Alexis Maday took first place honors with a score of 39.450. Ray was named vault champion along with Nebraska's AJ Lamb, as they both posted 9.925 on the event. Maday took top honors on uneven bars, scoring 9.900. Ray's 9.900 on balance beam handed her a title in the event. Courtney Turner, an individual competitor from Rutgers took top honors on floor exercise, sharing the honor with Michigan's Calli Ryals and Nebraska's Richelle Simpson. The trio scored 9.900 on the event

At the regional banquet Friday night, Katie Rowland was named Northeast Region Co-Gymnast of the Year after turning in strong and consistent performances all year for the Lions. She shared the honor with Michigan's Calli Ryals.

Penn State head coach Steve Shephard commented after the meet on the late line-up changes, and also on his look into next season. "I didn't decide on a line-up until after practice on Friday. We had to play it by ear, there were a number of factors in question. Katie's ankle, Kate [Stopper] was a roll of the dice for us. We would have preferred that she had more time in practice to prove herself. Fortunately, it paid off, she turned in solid routines for us." When asked about next season he said, "we have a bright future ahead of us. We aren't losing any routines, and we will have [Nikki] Bongiovanni back in the line-up. We are looking forward to new athletes. We have four definites and there is possibly a fifth coming. This year is over, we can't look back with regret, we did everything we could with what we had. Despite the disappointment, I'm very proud of this team."

 TEAM SCORES VAULT BARS BEAM FLOOR TOTAL 1 Nebraska 49.400 48.725 48.675 49.125 195.925 2 Michigan 49.100 48.200 49.125 49.175 195.600 3 Iowa 48.875 48.775 49.050 48.775 195.475 4 George Wash. 48.375 47.900 47.725 48.675 192.675 5 Penn State 48.275 48.250 47.600 48.100 192.225 6 Pittsburgh 48.475 45.725 48.250 48.525 190.975 

For complete meet results, please visit http://www.huskers.com/sports/gymnastics/w/live/20020406.htm.