12— The Daily Collegian Friday, February 11,1977 Korman, UConn host gym men . By GARY SILVERS Collegian Sports Writer Remember the Summer Olympics? Remember the gymnastics competition? Remember Peter Korman? Well you can stop remembering now, for the all-arounder is back. Back to haunt the NCAA and back to avenge a 211.95-211.55 defeat his team suffered last season. His base Southern Con necticut. And his target —Penn State. Yes, the Lions will have their paws full tomorrow night, especially competing up north, where they've been victorious only once “This is Southern Connecticut’s biggest meet of the year,” Lions’ coach Karl Schwenzfeier said, “and their gym should be packed to the roof. The crowd there is very enthusiastic, but unlike here, doesn’t support or applaud the opposition.” But they do support Kormann, who Schwenzfeier rates as one of the top NCAA gymnasts in the country. “He’s typical of all the Olympians,” Schwenzfeier (Olypmic coach) said, “because he drives himself very, very hard. When you get into a sport like gymnastics, you must be organized and must be Gymgals' rise to fame parallels Carter's By BARB SHELLY Collegian Sports Writer In the world of collegiate gymnastics, Penn State’s women’s team has done what Jimmy Carter has done in the world, of politics. Both have risen from near obscurity to the limelight in four years. Four years ago, the women’s team held its home meets in the practice gym at White Building, “which may or may not have been cleaned the night before,” said Ellen Coccagna, one of two seniors on the team who has wit nessed the change firsthand. | ARBY'S 11 ARBY'S | | $.99 Roast Beef | 1 (l[|B§\ 5.99 Roast Beef 1 lUHKV SANDWICHES I I Sandwiches I | WIIH THIS COUPON ! 5 THIS COUPON | | VALID AT BOTH ARBY'S 1 1 VALID AT BOTH ARBY'S g I 400 W. COLLEGE AVE. | | 400 W. COLLEGE AVE. 2 | 111 SOWERS ST. | * 111 SOWERS ST. | Valid Mon. Feb. 14 and Tues. Feb. 15 H I Valid Mon. Feb. 14 and Tues. Fob. 15 1 MID-WINTER SALE « WwWQM&WiWHOT VALUES ON WARM CLOTHING 234-A E. College Ave. ST ATE COLLEGE Open 10-8 Daily 10-5 Saturday FREE LA YAWAY Famous California Maker I FASHION JEANS KNIT SHIRTS OflG GfOUp DOWN-FILLED J „ y. off °f pants /3 Off DssUny SDO5 D0 Famousbrands JAL/Ivb I O Campus DRESS SHIRTS All deluxe features including down-lilled hood Jk / ff J FLANNEL 099 Reg. ' Polarguard OgO o yO Off SHIRTS « up $6O JSJ Insulated n A™; vpuw w Reg. $3O Converse Suede WOMEN’S ■ k e L f h s e TARsI 4" LEATHER DOWN JACKETS Co !i™¥ e *' JACKETS OQBB JEANS 8?P 5 49.88 iLv New Shipment! HIGH PLYING VALUES Penn State’s record back then was similarly unexciting. This year the Lady Lions are ranked third in the nation and compete before capacity crowds in Rec Hall. “What happened, at Penn State is an example of what’s happened all over the country,” senior captain Karen Shuckman said. “The caliber at nationals is 300 per cent better.” Coccagna agreed. “The difficulty of gymnastics has increased greatly,” she said. “Penn State has risen in relationship to the national On Sale Februar Record Bar Nittany Mall • 350 East College Ave. 10-9 Mon.-Sat. . able to put out. Kormann does.” Ju st like the rest of the SConn gymnasts. They’re young, but even more important, they’re proven champions. All-arounders McCutcheon and Miller bested Lion gymnast Joe Stallone (10th) in the AA competition at the National High School Invitational championships last year, while teammates Rich Ellis (Massachusetts champion) and Stu Goldstein (Connecticut champion) dominated the schools in New England. “On paper, they have a tremendous amount of talent,” Schwenzfeier said, “and we’re going to need at least that 214 (final score against Temple last weekend) to beat them.” But why fret? If the Lions did it once, there’s no reason why they can’t do it again. Right? “Well in most of the events last weekend,” Schwenzfeier said, “we just hit on our top four rou tines (only four of a possible six scores appear in each event total). In other words, we were lucky that’s all we needed.” And they better hold their lucky charms tightly, for without senior Bob Desiderio (broken ankle), level.” Shuckman described Penn State’s team in 1974. “It was pretty much an ex tracurricular thing,” she said. “The girls participated in high school. They went to the gym a couple hours a day, because they liked to go. None of them considered gym nastics a driving force in their life.” Yet, that was ,the year Shuckman was the national all-around champion. “I got back and everybody said ‘wow, how’d you do that?’ ” Shuckman said. RCA the Lions can use all the help they can get. “Yes, but with the exception of Desiderio,” Schwenzfeier said, “we’re progressing very, very well. He’s quite a talent though and will probably be red-shirted.” However, where there are injuries, there must be replacements. And thanks to Desiderio and other ailing veterans, the freshmen are getting an op portunity to gain something extremely valuable experience. “The injuries have opened doors for many of the freshmen,” Schwenzfeier said, “and they’ve been putting in some excellent routines. That’s very important for the future ” But the present is what’s bothering the Lions now and more specifically, how to beat Southern Con necticut. “Would you believe (Yony) Muffoletto (rings specialist) is the only healthy body we’ve got,” Schwenzfeier asked. “We’re really pressing hard. But the guys are in very high spirits now and that’s what it takes to win. We’re going in as underdogs, but plan to make it very interesting.” The . next year, Judi Avener’s first season as head coach, Penn State went to nationals as a team and wound up fifth. “You couldn’t just walk on the team now if you felt like doing gymnastics,” Shuck man said. “It has to be worth a little bit more to you.” “In 1975 we got through nationals by being con sistent,” Coccagna said, adding that little difficulty was involved in the routines. “Last year we were all taking it pretty seriously,” * J i 1 Bottle of Pepto-Bismol, * ? 10 lbs. of ice and * 4c Jr M 6 Ace Bandages later ... J * * * } |TTKO’s&AHA’s} * i j are still the GREATEST! $ | Thank you all, J * Nancy & Jamie $ 11-17 Shuckman said about gym nastics. “It was a year to learn how to be serious about it.’’ She called 1976 a “tran sition year.” Penn State • took another fifth place at nationals last year. “We didn’t have a super meet at nationals,” Coccagna said. “We had peaked too soon.” As for the present season, Penn State is undefeated in six meets so far. and figures to return unscathed from tomorrow’s meet at Southern Connecticut. Paul Simon, Penn State’s top ali-arounder, will challenge Peter Kormann at Southern Connecticut tomorrow night. Volleyballers back in action It will be something old and something new for Penn State’s undefeated volleyball team as it resumes action tomorrow in what promises to be a highly-competitive quadrangular meet. The Lion spikers, 5-0 in collegiate match play, will invade West Point, N.Y., to do battle with Army and East Stroudsburg State College, teams they have seen before this season, and a tough Delaware squad, a group they have yet to play The Lions crushed Army to begin their 1977 campaign and should do the same tomorrow. Penn State, however, just did get by ESSC Looking for the perfect gift? Consider our beautifully crafted group of leather accessories. Continental Clutch $25. French Purse $2O. Wallet $lB. Change Purse $lO. Key Case $lO.OO. All in Mahogany. All will make this Valentine’s Day memorable. 110 E. College Ave. State College, Pa. Shop 9:30-9; Sat. ’til 5:30 two weeks ago at Princeton. Although the Lions took two of the three games played, the scores of 15-13, 10-15, and 15-12 indicate just how close these teams are. This match is not an Eastern Collegiate Volleyball League tilt, although ESSC is an ECVL divisional foe. Delaware is a typical eastern volleyball team in that it has become a power to be reckoned with in just the past few years. Lion Coach Tom Tait reports that Delaware has everybody back from last year’s squad, plus a 6-5 player from California everybody is talking about. CB 4&>
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