Blue White Illustrated

| f the Penn State men's gymnastics team had an area of concern during the regular season, it was the floor exercise. Freshman Trevor Howard had been a consistent performer early in the year, turning in one strong routine after another. But he had suffered a concussion in February and hadn't been quite the same after that. Even so, coach Randy Jepson was feeling hopeful going into the individual finals at the NCAA championships at Rec Hall in April. "I watched him at the Junior Nationals last year, where he crushed it," Jepson said. "So I knew he had it in him." Did he ever. Howard, who had won the floor exercise at the Junior Olympic National Championships in 2012, came through in a big way for Penn State, posting a career-high score of 15.800 to finish ahead of Stanford's Eddie Penev (15.550) and Michigan's Sam Mikulak (15.450). It was a shining capstone to the season and an illustration of the freshman's composure in the face of championship-level pressure. "When I was kneeling, I was just saying my prayers and hoping to rock it out," Howard said. "When I stuck that first pass, it was just a great feeling. Just carrying on for the team, stick after stick, it was a great feeling. And having the crowd behind you is awesome." The championship brought a fitting conclusion to a season in which Howard set a Big Ten record by winning the league's Freshman of the Week honor eight times. But his dazzling rookie year wasn't without setbacks, the most significant being the concussion he suffered at the Winter Cup in Las Vegas in February. "It really delayed his training and preparation for the rest of the season," Jepson said. "He should have been an all-around threat for an All-America spot, but because of the injury, he never got fully back." Not until very late in the season, anyway. Jepson said Howard looked to be back in peak form heading into the national tournament. That had been Howard's goal. "I pushed myself after my injury to make sure I was where I wanted to be at the end of the year," he said. Howard was unfazed by the pressure of competing in front of a raucous home crowd on the sport's biggest stage. That was hardly surprising. He was an experienced gymnast even before he arrived at Penn State from Columbus, Ohio, having competed in- ternationally in Canada, China and Guatemala. In addition to winning the floor exercise, he took first place in the vault and parallel bars last year at the Junior Olympic National Championships and was second in the allaround. Jepson said Howard's strong finish puts him in good company at Penn State. "We've had a number of great ones here, and he ranks among those great ones, as well, there's no question," Jepson said. "The thing that you want as a coach is someone who is competitive-savvy, and he has that. You don't have to teach him to compete. He has that innate ability to perform. You want guys who can go to that next level, and he has demonstrated that he can do that." The timing of his victory at NCAAs could not have been more apt. It occurred 50 years to the day from Penn State's last national title in the event. In April 1963, Tom Seward tied for the title. Howard's championship is only the third that Penn State has ever won in the floor exercise. "I didn't know about it until after someone told me that it had been 50 years," Howard said. "That's crazy that it marks 50 years exactly. There's no feeling like it. It's just awesome."

• Cover