Lions’ lineup remains unset for Michigan meet

There are 18 athletes on the Penn State men’s gymnastics roster.

Roughly one-third made the blackboard.

Before practice Tuesday, coach Randy Jepson wrote a handful of gymnasts’ names on his blackboard in the team’s White Building training facility. As everyone clustered around him, he explained the names’ significance.

“These are the guys who are definitely competing Saturday,” Jepson said. “The rest is wide open.”

Senior captain Matt Albrecht, senior Warren Yang, sophomores Felix Aronovich, Parker Raque and Matt Chelberg, and redshirt freshman Francisco Vazquez were among those listed under one or more events for Saturday’s home meet against Michigan at Rec Hall.

There are 36 available spots in the lineup for a standard men’s gymnastics meet — six events each with six slots.

Typically, gymnasts don’t compete in more than three events per meet. Jepson still has several empty spaces to fill before his team takes on the defending champions.

“This week I told the guys they’re actually going to challenge for positions,” he said.

On Tuesday and Thursday, Jepson will take on the role of judge in addition to coach during practice. He will score the gymnasts in each event, and whoever scores the highest will start.

Even though the Nittany Lions’ lineup remains shrouded in uncertainty, they are still walking tall from their dominant victory at the West Point Open last Friday. For a squad that fell like dominos in 2010 when one gymnast botched a routine, their resilience to adversity this season increases with each shot of confidence.

“Whether it be from past performances or looking at how [our opponent] did, every little bit of support drives us,” Albrecht said.

Looking ahead, the No. 5 Lions see the No. 6 Wolverines as a vulnerable target. Michigan is fresh off a defeat to Illinois in the Windy City Invitational and is ranked below Penn State for the first time since Feb. 9, 2009.

Nonetheless, the Lions will have a much smaller margin for error than in their previous meets. Saturday marks the first of their five conference bouts this season, and the gymnasts know better than anyone that beating Big Ten rivals Michigan or Ohio State is different from beating Temple or Army.

“They’re going to come in really wanting to beat us,” Albrecht said. “We know that we have to do everything we can and be almost perfect.”

Perfection is a luxury very few achieve in gymnastics, and neither Penn State nor Michigan will be at that point Saturday.

Whoever fills those empty spaces on Jepson’s blackboard in the training facility will be key for the Lions in the near and distant future.

The team is entering the third week of its season now, and Jepson continues to leave his gymnasts wondering.

Every day, either in practice or in a meet, he is forcing his younger guys to perform at levels that they have never reached before.

No matter who starts Saturday, improvement is being made all around, and this may be the 20-year coach’s ulterior motive.

“The name on your shirt doesn’t hold a lot of weight if you can’t perform,” he said.

“We need to make sure we do our job.”

It’s survival of the fittest.