Injuries have plagued the men's gymnastics team so far this season. Yet, despite using a limited lineup, the Lions will hold the nation's No. 1 ranking going into its home opener with Kent State at 8 p.m. tomorrow in Rec Hall.

The Lions' 276.95 at Syracuse last week was the highest team score for a nine-man meet so far this season. Rankings only count scores from meets where nine-man teams compete. Early in the season many teams, including national power houses Oklahoma and UCLA, have used 11 men to help determine their best lineups. Final rankings are based on the three best meets of the year for each team.

"I like going with a nine-man lineup now because we are really getting ready for the NCAAs," Coach Karl Schier said. "It's nice to have the ranking, but early in the season many teams have injuries or use 11 men, so all the scores aren't in yet."

The Lions are dealing with injuries of their own. Freshman Tabor Cowden is out with a jammed thumb he hurt at Syracuse last week. He is expected to be back next week. Freshman Armando Gonzalez is still recovering from a rash and only began practicing in the middle of the week. He is doubtful for tomorrow night.

The Lions will welcome back all-arounder Mike Reichenbach and ring specialist Rich Briggs. Reichenbach suffered a dislocated finger which kept him to only three events at Syracuse. His finger still gives him soreness, but he said he should be able to compete his normal five events.

Briggs returns after a six week absence due to a shoulder injury he suffered at the Farmingdale meet. The lay off has hurt his strength and he says he is about 80 percent.

"Right now my endurance is non-existant and I expect I'll be tired by the end of the routine," Briggs said. "I should be back to full strength in about two weeks but I'm kind of nervous for this meet because I'm not exactly prepared."

Schier says Briggs' return will be very helpful to a team that has made use of its depth very well.

"It takes years to get used to it (injuries)," Schier said. "You get to the point where you learn to be patient and hopefully things will work themselves out by the end of the year. It's just typical of early season meets."

All-arounder Wayne Cowden feels the injuries have put some pressure on the other team members.

"Before the injuries we had a lot of back up, but now we don't and we have to work harder to make sure we don't make mistakes.

"We did well for an opening meet and we have a good base to work from, and we should just go up from there," Cowden said.

Schier said he feels the team has 280-plus scoring possibility and that it is making progress towards that. He compares Kent State's ability to that of Syracuse and he said the team is run well and puts on a nice program.

"They score in the mid-to-upper sixties and they are looking forward to being here," Schier said. "This is definitely not a hamburger meet."