Feb. 19, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
By Anita Nham, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Having the opportunity to compete against some of the best athletes in the nation during one's lifetime is something few people can say they have done, but for senior Craig Hernandez and junior Trevor Howard that is exactly what they will be doing this weekend.
Hernandez and Howard will be competing in the Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas, Nev., on Feb. 19 and 21.
"I'm actually really excited," said Hernandez. "It should be fun. Getting back to some of the individual styles of gymnastics that's like before college and of course, it's nice and warm out there and it's frigid here."
These two Nittany Lions will be leaving the comforts of Rec Hall for a two-day competition where they will be taking on the top gymnasts in the country.
"They will be with guys that competed in the World Championships in the United States and Olympic Games," said head coach Randy Jepson. "It's the top gymnasts. It's not just collegiate guys there - it's people that are post-grads, the best the US has to offer, so it's a good chance to compete with some of the best guys."
Facing off against the best gymnasts in the country can be intimidating, but Hernandez and Howard don't plan for that to affect their performances.
"It's a little intimidating [to be competing against the best in the country], but we wouldn't be going there if we weren't good ourselves and that's the way I look at it," said Hernandez. "I want to beat them and we'll try to beat them."
This Penn State duo is familiar with the scene at the Winter Cup as both have been part of the competition in previous years. Hernandez placed first in pommel horse for the past two years and last year, he earned the title with a score of 14.350. Though getting a third win is ideal, that isn't the main emphasis for Hernandez.
"Maybe a little bit of expectation [is there], but I don't really look at it," said Hernandez. "I just focus on doing the best gymnastics that I can."
Out of the 42 gymnastics in the 2014 Winter Cup last year, Howard placed 17th-overall with an all-around score of 81.750 in the finals. Even with that grand accomplishment, Howard is only focusing on being better.
"Basically, I go out there and just think, `This is for yourself. What you do is on you,' so I kind of make it more myself-oriented than team-oriented," said Howard. "I feel like there are always high expectations. I always set my standards higher than normal, so I want to plan on getting Top-10. A lot of guys are injured, so this is the time to step up and make the [Senior National Team]."
Although the Winter Cup and NCAA meets are vastly different, the toughest challenge will be the fact that their fellow teammates will not be alongside them.
"It definitely is [hard to go to Las Vegas without the team]," said Howard. "Having the team behind you and hearing them cheer your name when you're doing your routine is awesome, so it's definitely a little more quieting."
Besides competing individually, Hernandez and Howard will have the opportunity to watch their other opponents.
"You get the chance to see the rest of the guys in the country from the other teams and outside the NCAA structure - what the best are doing, so that gives you some ideas to what you need to compete against," said head coach Jepson. "You got to know your opponent, so it's really important to have a grasp of that, but really, we can only control the things we do, so we have to do what we can to be the best we can. That means focusing on execution at this point and being clean."
Even though Hernandez and Howard have multiple experiences with competing in the Winter Cup, it's always an enjoyable time.
"It's always exciting to go out there," said Howard.