16 f March 18, 2005 'OMEN'S GYMNASTICS PSU priming for postseason run By Jim DlMarco COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER I jtdls6@psu.edu This time last year, the Penn State women's gymnastics team was scrap ping to get one last good score in order to get into the postseason. This year the 11th ranked Nittany Lions can rest eas ier when they play host to Rutgers, Temple, and William & Mary at 7 tomorrow night at Rec Hall in their final home meet of the season. Non-conference vs. Rutgers, William Last sea & Mary and Temple son, Penn 7 p.m. tomorrow State needed Rec Hall a strong score in the final competi tion to qualify for the Northeast Region al Championships. This season, with a regional qualifying average score of 195.495, the Lions have locked up a solid seed for the postseason already and are in a "really good position" coach Steve Shephard said. "There's really no pressure to do any more than we've been doing," he said. - There is not the added urgency that we had last year going into the Big Ten tournament to increase our qualifying score." The Lions may have nothing to lose, but they still have room to gain. Obviously we'd love to increase our qualifying score," Shephard said. "We just want to hit routines like we've been trying to do all year" Saturday night will also be senior night for Penn State, marking the last home meet in the careers of Kate Stop CULTS ON CAMPUS THE REV. DR. RICHARD L. DOWHOWER LUTHERAN PASTOR AND CULT EXPERT MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2005 THE PASQUERILLA SPIRITUAL CENTER GARDEN ROOM 1:00 PM & 8:00 PM SPONSORED BY THE CENTER FOR ETHICS AND RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS 865-6548 VVWW.SA.PSU EDU/CERA ALL ARE WELCOME Kassia Pisklak/Collegian Senior Kate Stopper and the Lions will tune up their routines this weekend in preparation the Northest Regional Championship, for which they qualified with a 195.495 team score. per and Cecile Allen. The seniors will be honored prior to the competition. The Lions have been particularly impressive the past two meets in which they scored a 195.550 and 196.025 respectively. What makes these high scores even more spectacular is they did it without Lindsay Borkan, perhaps their most consistent scorer. "We have some depth," Shephard said. "We're fortunate to have people still now fighting for spots in the lineup. We've had people take up the slack. The SPORTS "Obviously we'd love to increase our qualfying score. We just want to hit our routines like we've been trying to do all year" Steve Shephard Penn State women's gymnastics coach holes that she left in the lineup were filled very well." Borkan tore her left Achilles in warm-ups before the Lions' competi tion against Ohio State on Feb. 26. The injury sidelined the freshman star for the season. Penn State will have to put forth a total team effort like it did the past two weeks to compensate for her loss. The Lions are carrying a seven-game winning streak into this competition and haven't lost since Jan. 21 at Michi gan. A big victory tomorrow night will help to keep their momentum strong as they prepare to roll into the Big Ten Championships Friday "I think we can score even higher than a 196 this week," Shephard said. "We can score a higher 196 or even a 197, depending on the judges of course." If history is any indicator of the future, Penn State will be in good shape come tmorrow night. The Lions are combined 22-0 against Rutgers, Temple, and William & Mary all time. Collegian invites applications for the Board of Directors The 12-member Board of Directors of Collegian Inc. is seeking one Penn State undergraduate student and one Penn State faculty member to serve for a two-year term on the Board. Newspaper experience is not required. The following are not eligible for these seats: Graduate students, Collegian staff members, Collegian alumni (for five years after leaving staff). Others are not eligible under our conflict-of-interest policies (for example, people involved with local commercial media, elected officials). Collegian Inc. is a Pennsylvania non profit corporation, which is legally and financially responsible for The Daily Collegian, The Weekly Collegian, Collegian Magazine and The Digital Collegian. Collegian Inc. is responsible for: • Overseeing the operation of The Daily Collegian and related publications. However, as a matter of policy, the Board does not become involved in day-to-day operations. • Selecting the top management of Collegian Inc. and monitoring the performance of the Management Team. • Setting broad policy and long range goals. • Ensuring the financial independence and editorial freedom of The Daily Collegian and related publications. Collegian Inc. is self-supporting with an annual budget of more than $l.B million. The dual mission of Collegian Inc. is to provide a quality college newspaper for Penn State and a rewarding educational experience for its student staff members. Interested people are invited to submit a letter of application and a resume to: Mr. Gerry Lynn Hamilton Collegian Inc., James Building 123 S. Burrowes St. University Park, Pa. 16801-3882 Letters should include your: 1. Reasons for seeking a directorship 2. Local address, telephone number and e-mail address. 3. Permanent home address and telephone number. 4. For students, major and expected graduation date. News Division - Business Division - Systems Division - General Services Division The scout also talked about Jeffer son, who in recent weeks has been one of the more talked about Penn State prospects, as he is one of the few true blocking fullbacks who has declared for the draft. While it was hard for the scout to assess Jefferson's blocking abilities yesterday, he noted that one of his strengths is catching the football. "It's hard to get [a sense] when you're [blocking] on air, you can't real ly see him blocking," the scout said. "He caught the ball well; he catches the ball away from his body, his hands are natural. Everybody's looking for a fullback, fullbacks are hard to find any more." Collegian Inc. , • ) - - Ir. - .1 . . ing - .g. • • Pro Day From Page 11. looking for a quarterback too, so it will be interesting to see how it falls." The scout said that NFL teams are The deadline for letters of application is 4 p.m. Thursday, March 31. A limited number of applicants will be interviewed by a committee of the Board. The Board of Directors includes four Penn State students, two Penn State faculty members and three directors-at-large. The editor in chief and the business manager, who are students, also serve on the Board. The general manager, who is employed by the corporation, is a non-voting member. • Donald Cistaro (president and at large director), manager of electronic publishing, Supelco Inc. • Gene Foreman (vice president and faculty director), Foster professor of communications, College of Communications, Penn State; former managing editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer. • John Curley (treasurer and at-large director), professor and distinguished professional-in-residence, College of Communications; former chairman, president and CEO of the Gannett Co.; first editor of USA Today. • Gerry Lynn Hamilton (secretary), general manager; former city editor of The Daily Collegian, 1968-69. • Wayne Hilinski (faculty director), senior lecturer, College of Communications, Penn State; former business manager of The Daily Collegian, 1960-61. • Leslie Rudderow (student director), majoring in finance and international business, economics minor, Penn State. • Devendra Tolani of Ajmer, India (graduate student director) doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering, Penn State. • Gary Gray (at-large director), visiting professor of finances, College of Business, Penn State: • Katherine C. Hazelrigg (student director) majoring in English, Penn State (seated March 15, 2005, current term ends 2007) • Kathryn R. Diamond (student director) majoring in Journalism/English, Penn State (seated March 15, 2005, current term ends 2007) sending representatives to the pri; days held by football programs across the country, and would convene in 4 . early April to go over the final work-' outs and discuss which players did well and showed up in shape. He also noted that while these workouts are impor tant, game film from the previous fall reigns supreme. "Film is the biggest tool for scout ing," the scout said. "What they do now: helps you split hairs between guys;J separate and put in a pecking order. , You've got to remember what the guy is as a football player." That being said, Pro Day is a chance for players who might have flown under the radar to up their status that is certainly the case for Wake, and for some of his former teammates, too. "You never know until the day of the draft," the scout said, "but some guys definitely helped themselves out ' today." Current Board members are: • James S. Young, editor in chief. • Julie Columbus, business manager THE DAILY COLLEGIAN ~...4 4 . * 4 t" 1 , y gr" • 40'4 H.. 1 IP IP 1 * • fs