As the Rec Hall crowd stood cheering, Adam Carton was nervous, but these weren't normal home opening jitters. He was having flashbacks.

"I was hating it before that first event," Carton said. "I started remembering just how much pressure there is in Rec and what the crowd was like."

As the crowd quieted down, Carton put the nervousness aside and tumbled and flipped his way smoothly through his floor routine. After hitting his landing, the crowd broke out in applause and he returned to high fives and slaps from his teammates. Adam Carton was back, and liking it.

In 1989, Carton earned All-America honors on the high bar as a sophomore for Coach Karl Schier's team. But this success wasn't carrying over into the classroom, where he found it hard to keep up with the work.

"I was just having a lot of trouble with school and I thought about just training and working on gymnastics," Carton said.

The thought turned into action and Carton headed for the West Coast and the University of California at Santa Barbara. The weather was great and the school was great. Everything was right, except his reason for going -- training.

"The training out there was at a completely different level, it wasn't intense at all," he said. "The coach just didn't put much effort into his team."

Although his grades had gone up, Carton said his training was nearly non-existent and he began to think maybe he had made a mistake. After a few months he began making some phone calls and talking with Schier. By last fall, Carton was back training with the Penn State team.

"It's a shame Adam had to be away from us, but he has handled it in a good way," Schier said. "I have worked with him a lot and he is quite intent on doing a good job."

Carton said he has been accepted back to the team with open arms and everything has gone better than he expected. He also realizes that he won't get another chance.

"I have a lot of respect for everything (Schier) has done for me and the team," he said. "I'm glad he took me back and I know I won't screw up."

Carton has shown this with his hard work so far. Last semester he suffered shoulder and wrist injuries that kept his training limited. He had already lost a lot from being in California, and any training time missed didn't help. But he continued to work and focus himself.

"At the beginning I wanted to jump back to where I was," he said. "But I hadn't competed at all and I had a lot to make up."

Carton worked through the injuries and opened up by placing third in the all-around at Syracuse with a 54.40. With his strength returning and the injuries healing, Carton prepared for Rec Hall and Kent State.

"I was really nervous before the meet, but once I got going on the floor, it was great," he said. "The crowd here is fantastic."

He ended up placing second on the floor and capturing the parallel bars and vault. He completed the night by capturing the all-around with a 57.15, the second best score in the nation.

Schier said Carton has shown improvement, but he still has work to do to get back to his former condition.

"He was out of condition when he came back and he is just starting to get back where he was," Schier said. "He is back in competing form, and he will be heard from this year."

Carton said he has been happy with his performance so far and he is concentrating on helping the team for NCAAs, scheduled for April 18-20 in Rec Hall. His goal is to return to his routine shape, and he is confident he will peak for April.

"The NCAAs will be the highlight of my life," Carton said. "While I was gone I realized that I had made some wrong decisions and that I didn't just want to train and not do school.

"I've realized that the reason I'm in school is to get an education, and while I'm here I'll do some gymnastics."

Carton's grades have shown marked improvement and he posted a 3.4 last semester as an economics major. He said he has learned how to balance his time and get the work done.

In the gym he spends time concentrating on his routines. Although he said he will help someone if they ask him, he likes to lead by example. This example includes hard work and dedication.

Things have turned out well for Carton, and although he admits he made a mistake in leaving Penn State, he doesn't regret the move at all.

"If I would have stayed here, I might have failed out of school or something," he said. "I needed something to change, and this whole experience has given me a chance to grow up. Now, it's almost like I haven't left."