High school ended at 2:30 p.m. He was home by 3 p.m. to eat. He left again at 3:20 p.m. for Allentown, a two-hour drive. And he was still a half-hour late for practice at the Gymnastrum, where he trained for hours each day.

Sophomore gymnast Tom Ellefson has been moving around and keeping busy all his life. And now he is the No. 5 gymnast in the nation on high bar (9.82), No. 20 on pommel horse (9.65) and No. 17 on parallel bars (9.63).

Ellefson will compete at the Big Ten championships at Illinois this weekend and is expected to do well on high bar, pommel horse and parallel bars.

"He's been one of our best guys on three events for both seasons he has been here," Lion Coach Randy Jepson said.

Ellefson's career-high scores include a 9.9 on high bar, 9.65 on parallel bars and 9.75 on pommel horse.

"I'm pleased with the progress I have made this season on my three events," Ellefson said. "But as usual, there is always room for improvement on the three pieces. What I've got to do now is solidify little problem areas I have on those events and get them real consistent for the next three weeks."

But he said it took a lot of hard work for him to get where he is today. Born and raised in West Virginia, Ellefson began taking gymnastics classes at the YMCA when he was four. At age 10, he moved to Canada and trained at the Excaliber Gymnastics Academy, where he practiced four times a week.

When his family moved to Delaware in 1986, he trained at Pancotts Gymnastics Club. Because of a coach that was "real tough psychologically," Ellefson decided to leave Pancotts. He began training at Gymblasters and then moved to Gymnastrum.

By moving around so much, Ellefson made a lot of friends who he still keeps in touch with. However, he said he didn't feel like he missed out on his adolescence until he reached high school.

"When I look back now, I did sacrifice a lot of things," Ellefson said. "I basically went to school and that's it. I didn't participate in anything outside of the classes until my senior year -- I was in student council. But I still couldn't do a lot there, because I could never stay after school."

After high school, Ellefson came to Penn State because he knew some of the Lion gymnasts -- juniors Brandy Wood and Tony Pansy and former Lion gymnast Ryan McEwen. Other factors included the quality of Penn State's gymnastics program and the coaches.

Ellefson said he "could not beat" the combination of Jepson and Assistant Coach Vladimir Novikov.

Ellefson said he is a hardworking gymnast who is dedicated to his teammates and to making himself the best. When it comes to his routines, he is a self-proclaimed perfectionist. He sees himself as someone his teammates can count on. "Tom could be our best pommel horse and parallel bars man," Wood said. "He looks good in the gym 'cause he has good form and technique. He will definitely be a leader in his upperclass years, as he becomes a more mature gymnast."