Blue White Illustrated

V A R S I T Y V I E W S FANTASTIC FINISH Gymnastics team comes up big at league meet | game; it will take a team e:ort throughout the season. "Hopefully, what's next is that we continue to cultivate and elevate our culture in terms of work ethic and commitment, what we control, not necessarily put our mindset to one speci9c thing," Gadowsky said. He added that if the Lions "continue to build our culture and continue to add onto our foundation, good things are going to happen." Of course, there is going to come a time when Penn State isn't simply putting the building blocks in place for future success but is instead reaping the bene9ts of all that work. Three years in, those within the program are mindful that the Nittany Lions are still relative newcomers, but they also are driven to compete as aggressively as they can. "When does the foundation become the house? You always have to work on that, you're never quite done," Gad- owsky said. "When will we the have identity that they know what we are all about? I think we're getting there. I don't think we're there, but we are getting there." Unlike last year, the goalie position will be up for grabs in the o:-season. Gadowsky made it clear that neither Matthew Sko: nor Eamon McAdam has the spot locked up. "It is honestly wide open," he said. "They will both get the opportunity at the beginning of the year, and if they both have great performances, they will continue to get chances." Gadowsky added that he will be watching to see which of his goalies will "run away with it." Even as they leave Penn State behind, the team's departing seniors are con- 9dent that the program will maintain its upward trajectory and eventually develop into a national championship contender. "It's going to continue to rise. It's in great hands and great leadership," Gardiner said following the Big Ten tournament. "They will continue to build next year and for many years to come." ■ R andy Jepson liked his chances. His Nittany Lions may have been in fourth place going into the final ro- tation of the Big Ten men's gymnastics tournament, but their final event was the floor exercise, and Jepson had a not-so secret weapon at his disposal. "I looked down the line at the floor line- up. I knew we had a very good floor lineup and that we could win it," he said. "I pulled them together and said, 'Guys, this is within our reach. We just do our job and it can be ours.' " They did their job. After the first four gymnasts performed their routines, the Lions, who were hosting the event March 27-28, were within 13.15 points of the lead. And that not-so-secret weapon – Trevor Howard – was up next. Two years earlier, Howard had won the NCAA floor exercise championship on that very spot in Rec Hall. Knowing that the junior from Columbus, Ohio, would be playing a crucial role in deciding the tournament, Jepson felt confident. Indeed, it was why he had made sure that Howard would be competing last, even though he had barely trained in the previous three weeks due to a sprained thumb. Said the veteran coach, "When he came out to do the floor set, I knew he would make it. I didn't have a doubt." That faith proved to be entirely justified. Howard came through with a score of 15.100, giving Penn State a team score of 74.800 in the event. When Illinois posted a team score of 72.700 on the parallel bars, the Big Ten championship belonged to the Nittany Lions. Heading into his final performance of the night, Howard was every bit as confi- dent as his coach. "I knew I could hit this set," he said. "I've had a lot of injuries that have held me back this year, but my last pass, I could see in my peripheral vision the whole crowd standing up and yelling as loud as they could. That gave me the final drive to push through that last pass and put it on my feet. I didn't feel any pressure. I knew that I was at home and my family was behind me. My [teammates] were warriors, and I was ready to deliver for them." Penn State finished with a team score of 436.700, while Illinois finished second (436.100) and Michigan third (434.750). In addition to Howard's title-clinching performance on the floor exercise, the Lions got a big night from senior Matthew Felleman, who won the all-around com- petition with a career-high score of 87.200. "I was just thrilled with the guys' efforts and being relentless," Jepson said. "We talked a lot about being in warrior mode and what that means. I've seen glimpses of it, but I haven't seen my team have that for a while. And we've struggled in some years where we haven't stepped up and really knocked it out of the park when we needed to be warriors, but we did tonight." Felleman, a senior from Medway, Mass., gave Penn State its third Big Ten all- around title, but he didn't realize it at first because he had been so focused on the drama of the team race. "I seriously had no idea I won until I had to get on stage and talk to the Big Ten announcers," he explained. "They said to me, 'How does it feel to win the team championship as well as the all-around?' I looked at

• Cover