The men's gymnastics team, slowed by injuries and trying to rebound from a third-place finish at West Point earlier this season, returned to form by dominating the Navy Invitational in Annapolis, Md., and winning its first match of the year on Saturday.

Mike Masucci copped top individual honors in the competition with his 56.65 and Adam Carton scored a 55.90 to garner a third-place finish and help lead the Lions to the victory. Jim Delaney scored a 53.50 to finish tied for fifth place overall.

"The guys did a fine job," Coach Randy Jepson said. "I'm really pleased with everyone. In spite of the injuries we had, we put in our best team performance. We cut down on the major breaks in the routines, which is what we tried to do."

Penn State accrued 275.75 points in picking up the victory. Temple was second with a 267.35 and William and Mary (261.75) was third. Kent State, Penn State's opponent next week, finished fourth with a 260.70 and host Navy scored 257.80 to take fifth place.

"This is definitely a step in the right direction," Jepson said. "These guys are a seasoned squad. They know what needs to be done and responded really well."

Carton, last year's NCAA champion on vault and rings, scored a 9.65 on the floor exercise to finish tied for first. Temple's Bill Roth, who tied Carton for first in the event, finished in second place, .20 points ahead of Carton, in the overall competition. Carton also finished second on the vault and fourth on the rings.

Masucci took second place on the parallel bars, third on the vault, pommel horse and floor exercise and fourth on the horizontal bar. Freshman Joel Neuwirth scored a 9.55 to finsh second on the pommel horse in only his second college competion.

"I'm really, really pleased with Mike (Masucci)," Jepson said. "I've seen him perform at this high level before. To be scoring this high this early in the season is just terrific.

"It's nice to know we can count on someone to put up good scores consistently, and we know he can still do better."

The Lions were without the services of Mike Reichenbach, who remained in the Happy Valley to nurse an injured ankle. Wayne Cowden, himself the victim of a back injury, was limited to competing in only four events, but made the most of those events.

Cowden nailed a 9.60 on the horizontal bar to tie for a win in the event with Navy's J.J. Skelly. He also finished third on the rings and pommel horse.

"There's no question it hurts our ability to score at the top level when two of our best gymnasts are injured," Jepson said. "But people are getting experience who might not have otherwise, and we'll need that team depth and experience as the season goes on."