After spending two weeks on the road, the Nittany Lions are set to host their first home meet of the season 4 p.m. Saturday in Rec Hall. The meet is a double dual with the women's team.
This will also be their first conference meet as they face off against Nebraska, which ranked sixth in the Big Ten coaches preseason poll. The Nittany Lions ranked fourth.
"We're coming up against a great team. We've got to get in and hit routines," Jepson said.
Penn State opened the season with a victory at the West Point Open, and a week later the team returned to West Point for a dual meet, where it defeated Army. The snowstorm on the East Coast left them stranded in New York for the weekend, and they were unable to return until late Sunday night and had a mandatory off day Monday. There have also been no morning practices this week, giving the team time to rest and prepare for upcoming dual meets.
With an abbreviated schedule, the team focused this week mostly on cleaning up routines and details that can enhance their scores. The gymnasts will compete with not as many full routines Saturday, but rather a solid half routines that are more precise. Jepson has been honing in on these details to maximize the scoring potential of each gymnast's routine.
The team's ultimate goal is to be healthy at the end of the season, so Jepson was glad to give the Nittany Lions' some downtime this week. Resting strategically throughout the season will ensure that this goal is achieved.
"This is the first year that we have a regular season conference championship, so this is the first meet in that series of meeting Big Ten foes," Jepson said. "The conference championship is on the line Saturday."
Competing at home is a unique experience, and the Nittany Lions are looking forward to it. Penn State fans are notoriously high energy and supportive of their teams, and this energy is evident in gymnastics as well.
After the competition, fans are invited to enjoy pizza with the team, who will be signing autographs. Jepson enjoys giving fans the opportunity to connect with the team, and the tradition of a post-meet reception has been long upheld. The team also enjoys the reception, giving them time to meet fans and visit with friends and family. Rec Hall will also feature a new Kids Zone to allow families to be able to enjoy the meet, even if they have young children.
"It's always a really great experience," junior Stephen Nedoroscik said. "You can really show off, your friends can watch you in real life and see what you do."
Only a portion of the team can travel to away meets, so Nedoroscik is also excited to have the entire team together at Saturday's meet to cheer each other on during competition.
"We can only travel 16 guys, so now we actually can have the whole team cheering for us. You have all your brothers beside you," Nedoroscik said.
Jepson instills in his team that a routine is the same whether it's being done in practice or in front of a judge. This philosophy has proved to be effective, as seen in the winning performances of countless Penn State gymnasts over the years.
A crowd as responsive as Rec Hall has potential to distract a gymnast from giving his best performance, but Jepson has trained his gymnasts to compete consistently. Although focus level is different in each gymnast, Jepson knows they are prepared to compete in each event to the best of their ability.
As for the pressure of competing in front of a home crowd, Jepson said there is none.
"There's never any pressure. It's just opportunity and what you do with the opportunity before you," Jepson said. "The guys really want to do well for their family, their friends and our fans."