UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — It's been a little over a week since Penn State's THON marked its eighth straight year of raising more than $10 million dollars for children and families impacted by childhood cancer, but this year's 46-hour dance marathon also provided a different opportunity for the men's gymnastics team to extend a unique streak of its own.
In a white out atmosphere, men's gymnastics came away victorious for the fourth straight year in the annual dance-off competition between a wide variety of different Penn State sports teams.
Performances from the Blue Sapphire Gillian Brooks, the Blue Band, the Nittany Lion and the Penn State cheerleaders kicked off Saturday night's electric pep rally in front of more than 16,500 standing students.
Despite being with the program for all four of its recent first place finishes, senior team captain Brayden Borromeo was nervous heading into the routine.
"Every single time I've been there it's like my first time," Borromeo said. "You always have those nerves when you see that many people, but you know they're excited to see what you can do."
The team entered the weekend as the defending champions and wasted no time reminding everybody in attendance, as the gymnasts took the stage holding up the No. 4. Ultimately, the group's impressive stunts and wild acrobatics earned them a slight edge over women's volleyball in the finals.
"Participating in THON means way more to me than winning it," Borromeo said. "Seeing so many people in the Penn State community come together reminds everyone that it's a competition but for a greater purpose."
That being said, the winning streak has sort of set a standard for the champions, and the group's reluctance to let the dancers down is evident in its serious practices that take place over the course of the entire year.
"At the beginning of the year, we always set it as one of our goals to put on a great performance," Borromeo said. "It's up to the older guys to let our freshmen know that this is a big deal and that the more we practice, the better prepared that we'll be."
"I guess now after four years of winning, we do have an expectation," redshirt junior Favian Valdez said. "We just try to have fun with it in the practices."
Typically, many of the participating groups will incorporate the Penn State Lionettes Dance Team in their preparation for assistance in choreographing a routine, but head coach Randy Jepson's groups have earned the reputation of being creative and thinking outside of the box over the years.
"First we'll listen to the music and try to brainstorm and come up with our own ideas," Valdez said. "We pride ourselves on coming up with most of it on our own."
"We like to make it up so that it means more to ourselves," Borromeo said. "It's really about having a good time with the brothers around you, and one idea will eventually spur into another and we'll come up with something great."
Part of the pressure on the team to perform well stems from how other students often jokingly point to the idea that gymnasts have an advantage in their physical abilities.
While Borromeo acknowledges the validity of the speculation, he also vocalized that the team does in fact put much effort and thought into each distinctive performance.
"We're used to performing in front of crowds and being judged in that sense," Borromeo said. "But we really try to make it more of a dance and put ourselves in a bubble that we're not used to."
For Borromeo, his time competing at THON has officially ended. But for teammates like Valdez, they have gained an appreciation for the opportunity they are granted each February throughout their four years with the gymnastics program, and will look to carry on the tradition of working diligently to put on an entertaining show.
"It means so much to dance on stage every year," Valdez said. "It's more than just dancing or a competition. It's for the kids."
