The men's gymnastics team will soon be competing in its 15th consecutive NCAA Championships, hosted by the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. And boy, are the team members glad the long road is just about at its end.

"It's been a little different outlook for the past few weeks," Coach Randy Jepson said. "Now that we've qualified, the pressure is off. I think the guys have felt that. The team really is better than the team we qualified with."

The Lions scored the lowest of any of the qualifying teams at the Regionals, obtaining only 280.75 points. Ohio State posted the highest of any of the qualifiers (286.80).

During the regular season, the team went against three of the other seven teams competing at the NCAAs. The Lions lost to the Buckeyes and the Iowa Hawkeyes, but beat Brigham Young with their highest score all year (283.50). The other competing teams are Big Ten champion Minnesota, seven-time NCAA champion and host Nebraska, UCLA and Stanford.

"I wouldn't say that it's time to go for broke," Jepson said. "We're going to continue to do the things that have gotten us this far all year. There is a little more relaxed attitude with the team. That is a big plus. I feel they don't have a monkey on their back, so to speak."

In 1987, when the Lions went to the NCAAs, they were ranked ninth out of 10 competing schools. They ended up in third place, 1.1 point behind champion UCLA. Jepson feels that that year's situation is similar to this year's.

"It's the same scenario this year," he said. "We know we're a solid team. Now that we have qualified, the guys want to show that we are better than everyone thinks."

Among the "guys" that will be competing include Nissen Award finalist and reigning rings and vault champion Adam Carton.

"It's really hard to defend a title on any event," Carton said. "I was kind of lucky to win it once. If I can get All-American in an event, I'll be happy."

Carton won the All-Around competition at the Regionals, but a sprained thumb may hurt his chance of repeating those preformances.

"It (Carton's thumb) has been off and on," Jepson said. "He has still been hampered somewhat by that, but we've taken a good deal of rest here the past few days. If he feels good, he'll be fine."

Also looking to lead the team will be All-Americans Rich Briggs and Wayne Cowden. The two tied for second place on the rings at last year's NCAAs, and could repeat their preformance.

"We can definitely do better than last year," Cowden said.

But last Thursday in practice, Cowden twisted his ankle and has been hurt ever since.

"We've had a little trouble with Wayne Cowden's ankle, which he turned last Thursday in practice," Jepson said. "That has been a day-to-day thing as well. We're hopeful that he'll be able to compete in the all-around competition."

"It (my ankle) is getting a lot better. I keep taping it up and it should be fine," Cowden said.

The Lions know that they can not repeat their preformance from the Regionals. They scored the lowest of any qualifying team and will have to improve greatly if they want to be in contention at the NCAAs.

"I feel we can score in the 284 range with a solid meet," Jepson said. "To get to that 285 mark, which I think we are capable of, it's going to take an excellent meet."

The Lions are tied for the lead in NCAA team titles with Illinois at nine each. But individually, there have been 42 Lion gymnasts named champion.