THIS WEEK: at West Point Open Date: Saturday, Jan. 19-20 Time: 7 p.m. Place: Christi Arena (West Point, N.Y.) LIONS TO DEFEND TITLE: Penn State will participate in the West Point Open this weekend. The Nittany Lions won the open last year and will look to take home the team title once again. Other teams participating in the two-day event are Massachusetts, Navy, Temple, James Madison, Southern Connecticut, Springfield and host Army. PENN STATE HEAD COACH: Head coach Randy Jepson is in his 10th season at the Nittany Lion helm. He has compiled a record of 81-26. Last year, he led the Lions to an NCAA-record 10th NCAA Championship title, Penn State's first since 1976. During his tenure, he has coached nine individual champions and 22 all-American's. The 2000 National Coah of the Year was a member of the 1982 Nittany Lions team, and joined the coaching staff in 1983 as a graduate assistant and then was hired as a full-time assistant in 1985. When the long-time head coach Karl Schier retired in 1991, Jepson stepped in to take over the reigns. THE SERIES: The Nittany Lions own a combined all-time record of 171-50-1 against the seven teams participating in the West Point Open this weekend. Army has the most number of wins over the Lions with 18, but have dropped 26 other mathcups. The tie only tie came against the Cadets. The Temple-Penn State series is the longest in school history, dating back to 1937. The Lions have won 52 of the 63 meetings. UMass previously did not have a win against PSU, but an opening-season Penn State loss in Amherst earned the Minutemen the first win of the series in 23 meetings. The Lions are also ahead in the series against Navy (37-10), James Madison (2-0), Southern Connecticut (16-7) and Springfield (17-3). LAST TIME OUT: The Lions fell for the first time in 23 meetings to Massachusetts last weekend, losing by a 204.650-202.155 count. Despite winning six of seven events, the Lions faltered on the pommel horse which cost them the meet. Junior Jose Palacios won the parallel bars event (8.850) on his way to the all-around title (50.450). Senior Tobias Ekman was the winner in the vault with a 9.100 and came in second in the all-around. Sophomore Kevin Donohue won his first-career high bar after only competing just five times on the event last season. His score of 8.700 on the apparatus put him at the head of the pack. After dominating the floor exercise last season, he continues to do so, winning with a 9.150. In his first-collegiate meet, Kevin Tan won his specialty, the rings, with a 8.850. The Minutemen swept the top six spots on the pommel horse. Senior Josh Malecki was the highest finisher for Penn State with a 8.100 in seventh. IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Lions posted the seventh-highest score in the nation last week at Massachusetts after a preseason ranking of number four. Masachusetts score of 204.155 was fifth-best. The Big Ten continues to dominate the polls. Six of the top 15 schools in the nation are in the Big Ten, with four conference schools owning the top four spots. Michigan posted the biggest score (207.550), followed by Illinois (207.200), Ohio State (205.400) and Iowa (2.5.150). Michigan State came in eighth with a score of 201.350. Gyminfo Gymnastics Poll by high score (as of 1/16/00) Rank Team Average 1. Michigan* 207.550 2. Illinois* 207.200 3. Ohio State* 205.400 4. Iowa* 205.150 5. Massachusetts 205.000 6. California 204.150 7. Penn State 202.150 8. Michigan State* 201.350 9. Temple 197.450 10. Illinois-Chicago 196.250 11. Army 192.250 12. William & Mary 191.300 13. Stanford 190.650 14. Springfield 187.100 15. S. Connecticut 126.700 * indicates Big Ten team italics indicates 2001 opponent WHO'S BACK: This year's Penn State gymnastics team is not lacking in experience. Seven retuning gymnasts are seniors and four are all-Americans. Senior captain Dominic Brindle leads the pack laden with talent and eaget to defend its title. He earned all-America status on the high bar and rings last season, while classmates Rob Saliski (vault), Ted Johnson (floor) and Chris Lakeman (rings) earned all-America status as well. Head coach Randy Jepson will look to his seniors to lead the charge in 2001. WHO'S NOT: Penn State will miss the contributions of two-time NCAA Pommel Horse Champion Brandon Stefaniak. Also gone because of graduation is vault all-American (1999) Eddie Seng. Senior Adam Benas will redshirt the 2001 campaign because of a torn achilles. He was expected to compete for the high bar national title. Despite the loss of these three gymnasts, the Lions return plenty of talent and experience. TOUGH SLATE: The 2001 Nittany Lions will have a tough slate ahead as they try to defend their national title. Penn State will compete against nine teams ranked in the preseason top 20, including four in the top 10. Penn State will face top-ranked Michigan on Feb. 3 and No. 10 Michigan State in the confines of home and will travel to No. 2 Ohio State (Feb. 24). The Lions will battle MSU and No. 3 Oklahoma at the Southwest Cup on March 3. The Lions are also scheduled to compete against No. 13 Temple, No. 17 Army, No. 18 Navy (West Point Open) and Springfield (West Point Open). The poll is once again dominated by Big Ten teams. Besides the Lions, U-M, MSU and OSU, Iowa is ranked No.6, followed by No. 8 Illinois and No. 12 Minnesota. WHAT'S NEXT: Penn State will open the home slate, playing host to Army on January 27 at 7 p.m. The Nittany Lions will make a special presentation of the NCAA Championship banner that evening before the meet begins.