12 I THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2010 Alden goes for NCAA By Mike Still COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Brian Alden relishes the oppor tunity to race against the best competition available. It doesn't mat ter who he' ' th( ,er who he's in the ------ pool with, Alden MEN'S thinks he can win SWIMMING every time he dives into the And this weekend, at the 2010 Men's NCAA Swimming Championships in Columbus, Ohio, the sophomore will have the chance to show the country what he's got against the country's best. Alden, who couldn't be Penn State sophomore gymnast Alex Stine performs on the uneven bars during a quad meet March 7 against Maryland, Michigan and Bridgeport. It was the last meet the women's gymnastics team won. Stine, a State College native, reclaimed a starting spot for the bars rotation in time for the Big Ten championships, which start Saturday. Soph. Stine embracing lead role on uneven bars By Zach Flange FOR THE COLLEGIAN Alex Stine has had an up-and-down two years, but she's finding her rhythm at the perfect time just before the Big Ten championships. The sophomore reclaimed her spot on the uneven bars Saturday for the No. 17 Penn State women's gymnastics team after having a starting role a season ago. Falling in her first two meets of 2010 and struggling in her third, Stine found herself at a mental roadblock and only recently saw her hard work match her meet suc cess "I was rushing in the meets before and not focusing as much as I needed to," Stine said. "I had to get back in the swing of com petin." Stin g e is fighting a stress fracture in her left shin but didn't blame that for her incon sistency this season. Limited to bars, Stine knows she's can overcome the only two impact points, the takeoff and the landing, with the right attitude. Embracing the competition with her teammates to stay in the lineup this season gave Stine the satisfaction of stepping up to the challenge, instead of showing frus tration in not participating. Coach Steve Shephard said Stine's prac tices were much improved recently, and it was primarily the consistency she didn't show earlier in the year that held her back Shephard knows the team is hungry heading into Big Ten's and is confident with Stine's ability to start off and put up a good score. In her last start against reached for comment, qualified for Nathan Adrian, a 2008 Olympic fies for the finals in each of his NCAAs in the 50-, 100- and 200- gold medalist, and Cincinnati's events. yard freestyle events earlier this Josh Schneider, the 2009 Having so much racing to do in season and will University of Cincinnati Male such a short amount of time is compete today Athlete of the Year. something Hargis has empha through Saturday Hargis is confident Alden won't sized for Alden to keep in mind. in the three change anything in his routine and Preliminary races will take ~ events. ~, t ~will compete with the same mind- place in the morning each day and "Brian's a kid ''' 4 set he has all year even with such finals will be later in the day. It'll that doesn't care * II highly decorated swimmers there be important for Alden to come who's at the right with him. out ready to go in the morning to or the left of him," "He gets excited to be able to qualify for finals, Hargis said, coach J o h n Alden compete against competition like while still maintaining energy and Hargis said of that," Hargis said. "So I think he's emotion for the finals later in the Alden. gonna go in with the mindset that day. "He's just gonna race no matter he can beat anybody and hopefully "The training we do all year pre what, so I don't think that'll faze that'll take place." pares these guys for back-to-back him at all." Alden will potentially have to daily competitions," the coach Racing against Alden in the 50 race six times over the course of said. "At big meets like this, you've freestyle will be California's the weekend, assuming he quali- got to do it in the morning." Nebraska, the sophomore recorded a 9.775, and Shephard knows that is what he needs from his lead off position. "I think her routine pretty much stands alone and speaks for itself," Shephard said. "She's got a good level of difficulity and meets all the requirements. If she does her routine and sticks her dismount, they have to give her a 9.8 plus." With four third-place Big Ten finishes in the last four years, the team is itching for a first-place finish for itself and the program. The Lions are seeded third overall, a dif ferent role from last year when they were seeded at the top. Stine feels the rankings shouldn't have any effect, and t he team simply needs to perform. "We know what we're capable cif, we just need to do it," the sophomore sz lid. "Stop talking and do it." Allie Southard, senior co-captain for the Lions, knows the leadoff role sets the proverbial bar for the rest of the meet and a good score should keep the team from falling into a catch-up mentality. Southard and coach Shep!hard are impressed with Stine's return and know what she will bring to the meet. "That first person is going to set the tone for the next five girls," Shephard[ s aid. "And that she stepped up after fighting all preseason and even in the beio nning [of the season] to get into the lineup really shows our team depth and how important that is." Stine is only one of the competitors for the Lions, but she knows her emperiences this season have helped her mature, and she is ready for the challenge. SPORTS The women's gymnastics team hopes to leave Columbus, Ohio with its first Big Ten title Team sets sights on first Big Ten crown To Mile Southard, winning a Big Ten championship is a simple concept. "Last year we went in as No. 1 and got third," the senior co-captain said. "So this year we're coming in as third, and we're gonna get No. 1." 'Though No. 9 Michigan winners of 17 Big Ten titles, including three straight and No. 13 Illinois are the top-ranked teams in the conference, Southard and the rest of the No. 17 Penn State women's gymnastics team are confident Saturday's competition will be different. History is against the Lions, though. Penn State has never won a conference championship since joining the Big 'Den in 1992 and placed third for four consecutive years, including last year when the Lions came in as favorites. One of Penn State's preseason goals was to redeem itself by winning a first-ever title in 2010. "I think this is the most talented team we've had so far," senior Brand Personett said. "Per three years now, we've had the disappointment and the fire build in us. Now we have so many girls on the team that have experienced that same thing. I think there's just a drive in this team that I haven't seen before on our team." One of the sources of confidence in this year's squad comes from the fact the Lions know they can compete with any team in the Big Ten. Penn State's best meet since March 16, 2007, and biggest 2010 victory came against rival Michigan on March 7 at BU SUMMER'IO Learn. Explore. Discover This summer, experience one of the world's top-ranked universities—in one of the nation's great college towns. Boston University Summer Term has 700 courses to choose from, in over 70 subjects. Study with award- winning faculty. Fulfill your academic goals. And fall in q. with Boston. Learn more at bu.edu/summer. Summer 1: May 18-June 25 Summer 2: June 28-August 6 Boston University Summer Term An equal opportunity, affirmative action institution. title trifecta By Jake Kaplan COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Despite knowing the challenges awaiting Alden this weekend, one of his teammates is confident he'll be successful. Recently named an honorable hention All-American at her own NCAA championships, Penn State women's swimming freshman Amy Modglin, who trained with Alden in the weeks leading up to champi onships, has seen the type of seri ous competitor Alden is. "He's a really strong leader for the team," Modglin said. "He's definitely someone that I think a lot of people look up to because he's more about doing something than just talking about it." To e-mail reporter: massB6o@psu.edu Rec Hall. The Lions also posted their third best score of the year in a victory against Illinois on Feb. 6. In addition, Penn State has beaten the rest of its conference foes this season, except for Michigan State and Ohio State. However, the meet in East Lansing, Mich., was the season opener and the Lions admittedly had "first-meet jitters." The Feb. 27 competition in Columbus, Ohio was affected by the season-ending injury of sophomore Whitney Bencsko, who went down in the first event of the day. Senior Casey Rohrbaugh said Penn State's prior 2010 meetings with Big Ten opponents, especially the victories against Michigan and Illinois, show the Lions can be the top dog if they hit their routines like they know they can. Rohrbaugh's teammates echoed similar sentiments "I think it makes us know that head to head, if everyone hits, we're on an equal playing field," Personett said. "So if we pull out our best performances of the year, which we haven't had yet, we should win the championship." Illinois coach Bob Starkell said he was impressed with the energy Penn State brought to the meet when his squad trav eled to Happy Valley in February. The obstacles the Lions have faced this year might make them an even hungrier team coming into Big Tens, he said. "You would be silly not to think that they're gonna vie for a title," Starkell said. To e-mail reporter: jyksl42@psu.edu
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