Although steady-performing Mark Sohn broke his first pommel horse routine of the season, the men's gymnastics team still managed second place honors at the National Independent Championships this past weekend, behind defending champion Houston Baptist, 285.30-273.60.

Southern Illinois finished third in the eight-team field with a 269.20.

Sohn, the defending national co-champion on pommel horse, scored a 9.05 in preliminary competition, just missing the finals qualifying score of 9.15.

"I had a bad meet, it happens to everyone," Sohn said. "I just didn't have my mind in gear for the meet. I wasn't concentrating. But, at least I got my one bad meet out of the way before NCAAs."

Coach Karl Schier said that the sophomore was working a new routine and had problems with the dismount, which lowered his score.

"He bent his legs and it just didn't work out for him," Schier said. "It was a very new routine and one that we'll discard immediately. He just tried new things and had some problems. It tired him out more than normal.

"We tried to see if it would work for NCAA competition and it definitely will not. It's still only the first routine he has broken and it's always nice to be able to explore new routines before the NCAAs."

Adam Carton, the other normally steady performer for the Lions, also had his share of problems. While Carton did leave Texas as the still rings champion, scoring a 9.70, the sophomore could manage only a sixth-place finish in the all-around with a 55.20.

Houston Baptist controlled the meet, nabbing the first five places in the all-around competition. Alfonso Rodriquez, the No. 1 all-arounder in the country, once again proved worthy of his position and scored a 58.1, while Miguel Rubio, the NCAA defending all-around champion, finished second with a 57.55.

While Carton and Sohn had their share of problems, other gymnasts were able to pick up the slack for the Lions. Sophomore Jamie Downer, who had battled an illness and an injured knee earlier this season, finished the meet as the floor exercise champion, scoring a career-high 9.60 in team competition and a 9.55 in finals.

"It was funny because I felt tired," Downer said. "The finals were my best chance at hardware -- a trophy. I did a clean routine, not a real difficult one. But, it was definitely the cleanest routine I've ever done."

Besides floor, Downer also competed on parallel bars in the finals competition, where he garnered a 9.25.

Junior Rob Drass, sophomores Mike Reichenbach and Wayne Cowden and team captain Kurt Schier all qualified for finals competition. Drass scored a 9.1 on both parallel bars and horizontal bars for two career-high scores.

"Everything is starting to come together for me," Drass said. "I was very pleased with my routines. I've been working really hard and I'm glad things are starting to come together now, right before nationals."

Reichenbach came away with a 9.25 on floor exercise and a third-place 9.30 on vault, while Cowden ran into trouble on the still rings and could only score a 9.10. Last week against Pittsburgh, Cowden scored a career-high 9.65.

Schier, however, had better luck on that apparatus. He tallied a 9.45, good enough for fourth place.

"It was generally a very pleasant trip," Schier said. "The guys did a very good job. The lower part of the lineup, especially, should be commended. They really did the job when they saw that Mark and Adam were having problems."

While the competition was difficult, other factors also affected the Lions' performance.

"All things considered, we did a great job," Downer said. "We had to deal with a five-hour plane delay, getting up at 7:15 a.m. the next day, and the heat. We certainly aren't used to hot weather in State College.

"There's still a lot of room for improvement, but we're coming around. The next two weeks will be very intense training. They're probably the most important two weeks of our season."

For the Lions, the overall score increased their final average to a 269.20 -- the average they will take to the NCAA Championships April 13-15 in Nebraska, where they will represent the Eastern Region.