April 12, 2005, 2005
From senior Kate Stopper:
Hey everyone! We had a very exciting weekend! We flew out to Seattle on Thursday from Newark, which was a 4 hour bus ride from State College. It was a lot of traveling but it was definitely worth it. When we got to Seattle we apparently brought the sun with us, because we were lucky enough to be there until Sunday and not see any rain.

Thursday night we went to dinner as a team at the Crab Pot on the pier. Some of the girls had WHOLE shrimp, heads and all! We had a team practice on Friday at the University of Washington with two other teams in the second session. We looked great. A lot of parents flew in throughout the day on Friday which was awesome having some fans all the way on the other side of the country. We also had some alumni cheering us on at the meet.

Saturday it was go time. We started on beam and hit 6 for 6. We then moved on to a bye and then to floor. We were a little off with our floor routines but we brought it back on vault. We had quite a few sticks! After vault we went to our locker room for our last bye and prepared for bars. We had a few uncharacteristic mistakes, but held ourselves together to pull out a second place finish and a trip to Nationals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were all so excited, we were singing and dancing as the University of Washington band played in the crowd. Some of the girls cried happy tears, and there was a lot of "WE ARE's" being yelled.

We celebrated as a team with our coaches and parents at McCormick and Schmick's where they had our own personalized menu waiting for us. I took a copy for my scrapbook. Sunday morning our flight wasn't until 1:25pm so we decided to hit up downtown Seattle. A couple of us got some coffee at the very first Starbuck's, while others of us got fish thrown at our heads at the Public Market on Pike's Place. We finally made it back into State College at 4:15am Monday morning after a returning 5 hour flight and 4 hour bus ride. Needless to say we didn't have practice today, but we did have our Student Athlete banquet. I'm very proud to say that our team won the team academic award for the highest average GPA of all the women's teams and THEN of ALL the sports teams, mens and womens!

Well now it's back to our training like usual, starting with a 7am Tuesday lift. We plan to train like we have been and we are all very enthusiastic with the successes we have made over the year, both academically and gymnastically. All I have to say is watch out 'cause PENN STATE IS BACK!!! WE ARE...

With Penn State Pride,
Kate Stopper

April 4, 2005, 2005
From freshman Kristal Uzelac:
Big Tens was a very good experience and it was a lot of fun. The week before we trained really hard and we were really confident going into Big Tens. When we got to Big Tens we were ready to compete the day we got there. We had a practice on that Friday and we did awesome. I was feeling a little sick that day but I put that behind me and just did what I usually do in practice. Saturday morning we all went to breakfast and did our cues and we were ready to go. By the time the meet came I was really confident and ready to compete. By the time we stepped into the gym we were the loudest and ready to compete. We started on a Bye and then went to floor. Floor was good but we could have done a little better with our landings. Then we had another Bye and then went to Vault. Everyone¡¯s Vaults were so good but we didn¡¯t get the scores we wanted. Bars were next and we did amazing. Everyone stuck their dismounts and hit all our handstands. We had one more Bye and the last event was Beam. Ris was first up and she hit a solid routine. After that we looked confident and everyone¡¯s routines got better and better as we went. I was last up on beam and I just got up there and just did my cues and did what I knew how to do. After I stuck my dismount I was so happy and when I saw my score I was twice as happy. I got a 9.95, my highest score I every got in my collegiate career. We ended up getting second but we were still proud of what we did. Michigan won but not by much. We will get them next year.

The week after Big Tens we just stayed to our schedule and just trained like we would normally do. We had the weekend off to rest our bodies for Regionals. Regionals is in Washington and we leave April 7th. We are going to train this week like we always do and go into this competition like it is a regular meet. We believe in ourselves that we can make it to Nationals.

With Penn State Pride,
Kristal Uzelac

March 1, 2005
From freshman Aslynn Satterfield:
Hey! I guess I can start out with our practice this week. After our win over George Washington we still were not completely satisfied with our performance. We know where our mistakes were and during the week we all worked very hard to fix them. We don't want to think about winning over the other team, even though that's nice, but we want to beat our best score because we know that we can do better. We are a great team and when we finally hit, like we did in West Virginia, we can score big! I think we've all had some kind of sickness this week. Kate got strep throat, Lisa had a bad cold along with Ashley and I. I guess you could call us a big germ right now! Never the less, this did not affect any of our practices; we still had energetic, positive and productive practices and lifts.

Our meet against Ohio State was another double duel with the guys but it was back in our usual competition facility at Rec Hall instead of the Bryce Jordan Center. It was also not televised which made it a little less nerve racking. Warm-ups went fairly well till we got to floor. Lindsay went to do her whip double layout and got a major injury, which will put her out for the rest of the season. We all love you and were here for you Lindsay!!! Since floor was our last warm-up event we needed to think fast about how we could replace her in line up since she is a very crucial part of our team. We decided to put our alternates in the lineup spots meaning Lisa would fill in on beam and bars, Corissa on vault and Kristal on floor. Our team has great depth so this was not a problem for us. Ashley and Amie, who did not even expect to compete and did not warm up, filled up the alternate spots on bars, vault and beam, with Michelle who semi warmed up on floor took that alternate spot. All three of them did very well considering they had to do cold routines. All events went pretty well with the exception of beam. We had a very off day on beam and were a little disappointed.

With all the situations we faced during this meet it seemed to go well and we still came on top with a victory over Ohio State. Lisa winning the Ann Carr award for the second time this year had an outstanding performance on every event taking first on vault with a score of 9.800 and tied with Kate on floor with a 9.900. She also won the all-around with a score 39.325. Kristal took first on bars with a 9.900 and Cecile took second with a 9.850. This Thursday we will be going to Arizona where we will take on Arizona State. LETS GO STATE!!! PSU gymnastics Believe!

With Penn State Pride,
Aslynn Satterfield

February 22, 2005
From freshman Lindsay Borkan:
Hi everyone!!! After our away meet against West Virginia and Ball state, we came back home feeling very confident. We had our best meet of the season, but we know that we can do a lot better than that! We went back into the gym this week working really hard on sticking landings on vault, bars, and beam. We also worked on hitting our handstands on bars. We didn't have to worry about climbing the rope this week, because all of us girls didn't have any negative thoughts running through our minds. Although practices and lifting were hard this week, we stayed positive, motivated, and focused in the gym while training. We were very determined to repeat what we did at WVU this weekend against George Washington. What helped us stay focused and dedicated was the fact that this meet was going to be on live television. We were all really excited about that. We would finally be able to show the rest of the country what we are capable of.

Our meet on Saturday was at the Bryce Jordan Center. We usually compete in Rec Hall, but since THON was going on, we were able to compete in the BJC. This was a very thrilling experience because the BJC is a much larger arena than Rec Hall. It was also really fun to compete on Saturday, not only because we were on TV, but because we were competing with our Men's Gymnastics team, so it really felt like one big practice.

We started off the meet on vault. We all did well on vault! We had a few short landings but overall a pretty good start. Lisa Clark did an exceptional vault which scored a 9.9!!! After vault, we moved over to bars. We were confident going into bars because we just came off a good event. Mer started us off on bars with a beautiful routine, followed by Lisa, Me (Linds), Michelle, Cecile, and then Kristal. Kristal ended the rotation as strong as can be scoring a 9.9! We had a few troubles on our landings, not as many sticks as we would have hoped, but still, a good event! Next came beam and Corissa started us off really strong with a solid performance scoring a 9.675. Then Kate and I took our turns up on the beam both scoring a 9.775. Mer finished beam off with a great routine scoring a 9.825 which was good enough for first place. Going into floor we were looking and feeling good. Floor is usually are best event in every meet, but tonight we had a few struggles. Corissa started us off again very strong with a great routine scoring a 9.75. Mer went next with a great routine as well. The crowd was really excited when Mer did a huge double layout as her first pass! Jen, Lisa, and I had some troubles on our landings. We went out of bounds a few times. But leave it to Stopper to nail her routine and come through for the team. Stopper did a whip to an immediate Arabian double front and stuck it PERFECTLY! She just went sky high in the air and came down and stuck!! She finished her routine with excellence as she placed 1st scoring a 9.875.

Mer took 1st place in the all around again for the second time this season. She scored a 38.975. Lisa Clark was honored with the Ann Carr award for her exceptional performances of the evening. The Nittany Lions won the meet with a team total of 150.050. We know what we have to do this week in practice to improve what we did on Saturday. We will go into the gym working even harder and trying to perfect everything. We will be competing this Saturday, February 26th at 7pm in Rec Hall against Ohio State. The boys will be joining us for another double duo competing against Ohio State as well. We hope to see you all there!! GOOD LUCK STATE!!! BELIEVE!

With Penn State Pride,
Lindsay Borkan

February 17, 2005
From freshman team manager Jamie Murray:
HEY EVERYONE!!! After our home meet against Cornell, Missouri, and New Hampshire, the girls were not satisfied with their performance, even though they came out on top. The girls went into practice this week very motivated to show everyone how talented they really are at the WVU and Ball State meet. Good news to start off the week was that Kristal got her results back from her MRI and was told that there was no tear in her knee. The girls went into practice this week concentrating a lot on no negativity in the gym and boosting up their confidence. If any negativity comes from any girl, they now have to do a rope climb during practice. Practice went well all week, and they decided not to have an intersquad on Thursday like they have been doing. Instead they worked extra hard all week looking very determined to shine at WVU. Before heading off to West Virginia, Kristal was cleared to compete beam and floor.

We arrived in Morgantown Saturday night because the meet was on Sunday at 1pm. After celebrating Lisa and Aladine's birthday at Applebee's Saturday evening, everyone went back to the hotel relaxed and excited about the meet!

As soon as the girls stepped into WVU's Collaseum you saw a confident look in each of their faces. Staying confident and positive in practice really helped the girls stay calm and determined throughout the meet. I think everyone could agree that the team really came together at this meet. Everyone was smiling ear to ear, having a wonderful time, and truly believed in themselves. Their confidence definetly showed during the entire meet. Every event just got better and better. The girls hit 6 for 6 on every event!! Not only did they hit their routines, but they also posted their highest team all around score since 2003 Big Ten Championships. A team score of 196.65!!

Now that the girls know that this score is possible for them, they head into the gym this week even more motivated because they are ready to do even better! The team is working hard and getting ready for the double dual meet coming up this weekend on Saturday at 7pm against George Washington. The boys will also be competing against Michigan. This meet will be very exciting for everyone because it will be held at the Bryce Jordan Center and televised live!

Good luck to all the girls and the guys! BELIEVE!!!!!!

With Penn State Pride,
Jaime

February 10, 2005
From sophomore Corissa Pirkl:
Hi! I guess I'll start with our meet against Maryland. Practices went well all week and we tried some new things to change it up a bit and see if it would help our confidence at the meet. I think this was a great experience for us as we tried to make practice feel like the meet and did an intersquad. Everyone did really well and I think the preparation was a big help.

When we faced the terps on Saturday, it was much earlier than we normally compete, but I think everyone felt great and was ready to kick some butt...and that's exactly what we did!

The meet started off great on vault with everyone hitting really well. Our energy was high and our confidence boosted. We continued to do awesome as we moved onto bars and then to beam where everyone, including exhibitions, hit their routines! We went 8 for 8 and that's the excellent beam work Penn State is known for. Then we went to floor with such great enthusiasm, energy, and confidence and EVERYONE'S routines were amazing even with a few girls scoring season highs!!! We ended the meet with our season high of 196.3 - a score we've been capable of and a great accomplishment for all of us!!

The following week practice went well despite a knee injury on Monday to Krystal Uzelac, one of our top freshman. This is where we have the advantage of depth on every event placing girls in lineup that could fulfill her spot. I was also out on Monday because I was in the hospital that morning with a horrible stomach virus. I took the next 2 days off and was back and ready to go in the gym on Thursday where we tried the intersquad again. It went well and were ready for the quad meet against Cornell, UNH, and Missouri on Saturday.

As for the meet, we beat all three teams coming out with 3 wins, but did not get a very good score with respect to the expectations we have for ourselves. But as strong and determined as we are, we put this behind us and are planning to do what we are capable of and to be the best we can be next meet when we face West Virginia and Ball State away at WVU this Sunday at 1:00pm.

With Penn State Pride,
~Corissa~

January 27, 2005
From sophomore Stephanie Sullivan:
Hello again! The whole team has been very busy since Florida. We have had two meets since then; one at home and one at Michigan. After Florida we discussed a lot of ways to help improve and we tried these in practice and in the following meets.

It felt so good to be home again! We started on vault (our normal rotation) which went well. Bars were next; this went really well for us and everyone felt good going into beam. Beam was a little shaky compared to what we are capable of, but we definitely made up for it on floor.

The following week in practice we worked hard on our routines as well as the mental aspects of competing. Some of our plans were designed to simulate a meet or put pressure on us. By the end of the week, we all felt excited and ready to face Michigan!

The meet at Michigan went well as well as providing us some room for learning. We started on Bars; this was a little shaky however we made it up on vault! Floor was next for us. This event went really well; every routine has a ton of difficulty! Beam was our final event. We left right after the meet to head back to Happy Valley to beat the snow storm.

Practices this past week have been going well and all the girls are excited to head home again! We cannot wait to take on the Terps this Saturday (and to stick around to sign a few posters after) See you there!!

With Penn State Pride,
Steph

January 12, 2005
From sophomore Genavieve Shingle:
We got back safely from our Florida trip, although our bags didn't return until the next day! We left for the Super Six Challenge on Thursday and had a banquet with the other teams that evening. The competition was Friday night against Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Iowa and Arizona. It was amazing. There was over 8,000 fans in the stands and television cameras everywhere (since it will be televised on ESPN Jan 16 at 2:30). We were so pumped because it was finally our first meet! All of our hard work during preseason was finally about to pay off.

We started on bars. Our nerves had kicked in and we made some mistakes, but nothing that we haven't already fixed. Beam which has been our strongest event in practice turned out to be a struggle, but the potential we have is incredible. We had, by far, the most difficult tumbling in the whole competition with two full-ins, a whip double lay out and a double arabian! Other coaches commented on how talented and great our team looked.

We ended on vault which was good- all of our girls in line-up have 10.0 start values which is amazing for the first meet. Although we didn't do as well as we hoped, placing 5th, we were still pleased because we saw the enromous potential our team has. We are so excited about our home meet this weekend! Not only will it give us a chance to fix our mistakes from last week, but also to finally perform in front of our home crowd! We hope to see all of you there!

With Penn State Pride,
Genavieve

December 6, 2004
From sophomore Ashley Mehrer:
After taking five days off last week for Thanksgiving, the team has been working really hard at perfecting skills and routines for the upcoming season. The break gave everyone some much needed time to relax, regroup, and spend time with our families. However, spending time away from the gym just made us that much more inspired to get back to work.

With only a few practices left before the start of season, everyone has been working really hard on perfecting their routines and getting that much more excited to show everyone what we have been working all preseason for! Beam is becoming super consistent with line-up spots being fought for everyday. We did a team plan on bars the other day and hit 7 for 7 on the first round. We are starting to move the vaults onto the harder mats and floor passed are becoming more and more consistent with almost everyone tumbling all passes on the competition floor.

Coming up on the end of preseason also marks another team function outside of the gym. This Thursday our team will be competing in Iron Lion, a lifting competition between the different Penn State sports teams. We will be doing various exercises, like pull-ups, leg press, and bench press, for a maximum amount of reps. Last year, our team came in first place, which makes this year even more special because we have a title to defend!

Finals are also steadily approaching and the tests and projects are taking up a lot of time. It¡¯s a stressful time of year for all, but it only means it¡¯s that much closer to season. We are getting to where we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The motivation and intensity in the gym is great and we all can¡¯t wait to start the season!

With Penn State Pride,
Ashley

November 22, 2004
From junior Michelle Ilg:
For the past couple of weeks our team has been training really hard for our Intersquad which was this weekend. For the intersquad we split up into two teams. Mer's team included Cecile, Lindsay, Ashley, Gena, Amie, and myself. Kate's team included Erin, Ris, Lisa, Kristal, Steph, Jen, and Aslynn.

Before the intersquad starts, each team puts on a little skit, just to sort of take the pressure off and to have a good time. This year the theme for our skits was super heroes. The coaches and Jaime were another group and also put on a skit. Their skit involved a "little incident" that happened earlier in the week, and this "little inicident" just happened to be me breaking Jess's nose while she was spotting me on floor :( Oops.

This year, the intersquad went extremely well. Everyone did an awesome job and I am so proud to be on this team. We are really going to impress people this year.

On vault this year, almost everyone vaulted on the actual surface and Lindsay and myself both hit our new vaults, a yurchenko layout half. Aslynn also made her yuchenko layout half on mats in the pit. On bars, Cecile made her new dismount, double front half, and Steph, Mer, Cecile, and myself all got a 9.8 or above. On beam, Amie did her new dismount, double back, Jen did her new dismount, handspring layout handspring into a double full, and Mer did her new dismount kick over front to handspring gainer full. Also, as usual, most of the girls went 9.8 or above. On floor, Mer did her new first pass, a double lay, and scored a 9.95! I did my new first pass whip whip through to double pike, Kate did her arabian double front, and Steph stood up her second pass, a 2 1/2. Also, Gena and Lindsay hit beautiful routines, and Ris ended with a double back this year.

We really feel like we are ahead of the game this year. We scored almost 2 points higher as a total this year than last year's intersquad. We are really looking forward to the season beginning and we hope you are too!

With Penn State Pride,
Michelle

November 8, 2004
From junior Jen Orlando:
With only two more weeks until Turk-o-Weenie (our intersquad), we are continuing to develop our routines. Everyone is doing a great job of stepping up their skills. We are beginning to see all 3 passes on the floor, full beam and bar routines, and vaulting onto the hard surface. It¡¯s really exciting to see everyone¡¯s routines coming together.

Tuesday, we stayed inside for sprinting because of the weather. We did suicide sprints. The girls worked really hard and said it was definitely the hardest thing we have done yet. Unfortunately I couldn¡¯t sprint with the team (go away Mono!)

Wednesday night, 7 of us participated in the Date Auction for Coaches versus Cancer. We were auctioned for $30. Not as much as we had hoped, but it felt good to do something for a good cause. On Thursday, we did a team bar plan. 11 of our bar workers warmed up together and then everyone watched their routines. It was pretty cool to see so many great routines all in a row! Both Mer and Lisa are doing awesome full-out dismounts¡­and sticking them!! Bars should definitely be a strong event for us this year.

We had Saturday off, which was a much needed break for our hardworking team. On Sunday we were back at it, doing bar routines and continuing to vault on the competition side. We did a team plan on beam. Everyone did routines, rotating around to all 4 beams. The goal was to keep going until 65 routines were hit together. It took 8 or 9 routines each¡­Gena hit 9 for 9!!

With Turk-O-Weenie coming up so soon, we are all anticipating the upcoming season. We continue to keep our goals in front of us and adjust them when needed. The gym is filled with motivation and excitement for what we plan to accomplish this year!
With Penn State Pride¡­

November 1, 2004
From senior C¨¦cile Allen:
The Penn State Nittany Lions Gymnastics Team has had both a fun, and challenging week! After a week of awesome practice and productive conditioning (including 12 sprints up Shortlidge Hill... we made it girls!!!), my teammates and I had our annual Nittany Mountain run on Saturday afternoon. But first we had a fun practice on Saturday morning where we split up into 3 teams, and competed to see which team could win the most halloween candy in 2 hours. It turns out that candy is a great incentive for anything you are trying to accomplish! Each person had to pick out a folded up piece of paper from a little pumpkin container. The papers had different things written on them, like "do one routine," or "stick a dismount," or "improvise a floor routine to music with your team," or "take a TREAT!" By doing each thing written on the papers, you would receive a piece of candy. It was a really fun, entertaining practice, but definitely not easy (depending on which papers you randomly picked), and we still got a lot of work done in the little time we had. During those 2 hours of fun, we had our Mount Nittany run to look forward to, which we all did together after practice! We were excited for the run, but also pretty nervous, because it's a very steep and challenging run to the mountain. We all made it though, and then still had energy to hike to the top once we had run to the trail. It is such a beautiful hike in the fall, with all the different colored leaves... and the view of our campus from the top is incredible! I still wish I could've caught our coach Jess when she slipped and fell on a patch of slippery moss, right in front of me on our way up... sorry Jess!! This was both Kate and my last run, as seniors... and I can honestly say that I am going to really miss getting through these team-bonding activities together. I am going to miss the amazing feeling of pushing through as a team to accomplish such extremely hard things that I would probably never be able to finish alone! It feels so good when all the hard work is over for the day, and you know the only possible reason you made it is because you all mentally helped each other get to the end. This is the kind of team work we are going to continue doing all year... all the way to NCAA Nationals in Alabama!!

We ended the week with an awesome Halloween costume party on Saturday night with the guy gymnasts and lots of other friends. How did everyone guess that John and I were dressed as Cinderella and "Prince Charming?" I know his outfit was a little bit struggling, but we only got it about an hour before at Good Will. At least I was happy that I got to use my prom dress again, four years later!!

We have all set another round of gymnastics goals for the next 2 weeks and are ready to start working hard first thing Monday morning, in the weight room at 7 am! We are well on our way to preparing amazing routines on all 4 events for our upcoming season, which we will begin to compete in January, at the Super Six Challenge in Florida! It is going to be a great year for us, and I can't wait until season begins.

October 26, 2004
From junior Lisa Clark:
Before the PSU gymnastics team went home to enjoy a three day weekend we all ran the stairs of Beaver Stadium. Kate Stopper our graduating senior ran the stairs in a record breaking time of 22 minutes. The team and coaching staff were very happy with everyone's success in completing the stairs. The freshman did an awesome job! Now the team is back from a long weekend at home and back in the gym working hard together to fulfill the team goals. We are not only working in the gym together but also in the wieght room, and outside of the gym making sure that each of us are always focused and determined to not let anything get in between the team and our goals. As the middle of preseason is coming up we are looking great in the gym. Our momentum as a team has been greater than ever and is showing in dramatic ways on each event. Vault is one of our stronger events right now. We have been doing a great job making a transition from the pit area to the harder surface landing. Then there is Bars where everyone is pushing each other on putting together a routine. For the past few weeks we have been working parts and most of us are very close to putting together a routine. Cecile, Michelle, and Kristal are looking great! Then there is Beam and Floor of which both of these events have a great amount of depth. Each girl is working hard for those top 6 spots and pushing each other to get better. Floor endurance looks great as a whole. The team now is looking forward to continue working hard and our next team function will be running Mt. Nittany which will be another great experience!

October 13, 2004
From senior Kate Stopper and junior Meredith Hoover:
We welcomed four new freshman to the team this year. They're all doing awesome and adapting to the Penn State traditions very well. As for the rest of the team, we're back and ready to take it to the TOP level this year. We're getting ready, mentally and physically, to run the stadium this Thursday. It holds 107,000 people! Standing down on the field after accomplishing this task gives you a feeling of the ULTIMATE PRIDE of a being a Penn State athlete. After this we feel mentally and physically stronger and able to accomplish anything. Friday, we have a university study day that will give us an opportunity to go home, rest and reflect on another preseason tradition gone by. Then it's back in the gym on Monday, stronger than when we had left. We'll keep in touch with our goals and upcoming successes.

With Penn State Pride,
Mer and Kate
(2005 co-captains)

October 11, 2004
From head coach Steve Shephard:
Our team has been working hard so far this preseason with conditioning and skill development. We are planning to run the stadium steps on Thursday (Oct. 14) as a team building activity and for the physical preparation. We have been in official practice since September 27th. We have hired a new assistant coach, his name is Aladine Naamou and he has been busy getting settled into his new role with the team. We are all looking forward to a great year, and the girls are very excited to get started with the competitive season!