An old saying states that if a cat falls, it always lands on its feet. This logic will be put to the test when the 7th-ranked UA gymnastics team travels to Columbia, Mo., this weekend to square off with three other members of the feline persuasion in the annual Cat Classic.

"This meet will be a great experience for us because of the way it is laid out," UA coach Jim Gault said. "It will be a two-day event where the entire area gets into the competition. The girls already know this and they should be prepared. We hope it will be a fun environment."

The meet is set up to where Arizona (6-0), the No. 12 Penn State Nittany Lions, Auburn Tigers and host Missouri Tigers will compete for the team title today in a regular meet rotation. This is also when the individual all-around title will be awarded. The second day of the meet will consist of the top 10 athletes in each event, based on their scores from the previous day, competing for the individual awards.

Of the three teams, Penn State looks to be the only team that should give Arizona any trouble. Last season, the Nittany Lions claimed the meet by edging the Wildcats 191.275 to 191.125.

"Going into the meet I think Arizona and Penn State will be the teams to beat," Gault said. "But at this meet you never know what will happen. There have been times when Missouri has had the worst record of all the teams and still ended up winning. You just don't know what is going to happen in this sort of a setting."

Last season, Arizona was led by junior Tenli Poggemeyer, who captured the bars title with a score of 9.825. Joining her in the all-around this time around will be freshman phenomenon Heidi Hornbeek. Hornbeek finished second in the all-around last week against UCLA with a score of 39.175. Senior Karen Tierney and freshman Kristin McDermott are coming off impressive floor routines (9.75 and 9.825 respectively) and should make an impact in the meet. But Arizona's Achilles' heel this season has continued to be the balance beam, something that is beginning to frustrate Gault.

"I am just going to keep trying different things until our girls settle down in that event," Gault said. "We're going to try and stabilize the lineup so the girls don't worry about losing their position. We've also been putting a little more emphasis on the meet atmosphere in practice: not giving our girls that much warm-up time and using different beams."

Arizona is now also committed to establishing its six top scores needed for regional competition.

"Right now everybody is ranked on their top score achieved, not who they beat," Gault said. "About six weeks into the season, the rankings will be based on an RQS score. This score is made by throwing out your best and worst score, and averaging the rest. This will also go into determining our situation for the regionals, so we need to start a good base for our scores on the road and at home, as soon as possible."