STATE COLLEGE, Pa., March 17, 2004 - After tasting victory in all four events in which he competed last Saturday, sophomore gymnast Luis Vargas (Rio Pedros, P.R.) earned his first-ever Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor. Vargas helped propel the Lions to a 218.800-207.475 victory over visiting Army and posted season or career highs in two of his four events.

Vargas posted scores above 9.000 in every event to place first in the pommel horse (9.700), high bar (9.400), parallel bars (9.350), and floor exercise (9.050). The Nittany Lion sophomore, who earned All-Big Ten honors as a freshman last season, posted a career-high on the floor exercise and a season-best on the parallel bars. He joins teammates Kevin Tan (February 11) and Chad Buczek (February 25) as the third PSU gymnast to be selected this season, which leads all Conference schools.

Penn State travels to Illinois this weekend to compete in the 2003 Big Ten Men's Gymnastics Championships. The Lions are looking to defend their 2003 championship. Senior Kevin Tan (Fremont, Calif.) is also in the hunt for his third-straight rings title at the championships. Tan is the reigning national champion on the apparatus.