All the sweat, all the blood, all the hours in the gym — and when it comes down to it, sometimes things just don't go your way.

Last season the Penn State men's gymnastics team had a dream season. The series of events that led up to a National Championship was almost too perfect, practically surreal.

So maybe it is fate's revenge that has caused the injuries and setbacks this season. Maybe it's that give and take that has caused the Nittany Lions to perform well below the level at which they think they are capable of performing.

"We've been inconsistent," Penn State head coach Randy Jepson said. "That's been our problem. The tough thing to figure out is why it's happening."

March 3 at the Southwest Cup in Tempe, Ariz the eighth-ranked Lions finished third behind No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 5 Michigan State. The Sooners scored a 215.250, the Spartans a 210.400, the Lions a 208.925 and No. 12 Stanford rounded out the collegiate competition with a 205.425.

The Lions were weak on the parallel bars, registering just 32.90 points.

Penn State won the still rings with a 36.55 on the strength of sharp routines by Chris Lakeman and Kevin Tan. Brett Covey of Oklahoma won the individual title with 9.70, marking the first time Lakeman lost in the event this year.

"I don't think he had a 10.00 start value, but the judges gave him that," Lakeman said of Covey's routine. "He had a strong routine and mine wasn't as good as it has been this year."

Covey and Lakeman are tied for first in the nation on the rings, with Ohio State's Daren Lynch not far behind. Lakeman will face Lynch at the Big Ten Championships and get another shot at Covey in April at the NCAA Championships.

"Oklahoma hasn't come East much," Lakeman said. "The judges are different and most of the better ring guys are out here. We'll see what happens at NCAAs."

The Lions continue to struggle with injuries. Key all-arounders Jose Palacios and Dominic Brindle have not been yet this season. Brindle was diagnosed with asthma and a sinus infection last week and cannot condition at full strength, but should improve with increased medical attention. Kevin Donohue was again limited to the parallel bars and the pommel horse and Tan only saw action on the rings.

The Lion gymnasts worked out routines during two-a-days over spring break. Lakeman said that the week wore out the team physically but also gave their confidence a boost.

"Sometimes you just need to get in and work hard and things will come together," he said.

Jepson said his team should be at its peak physically and now needs to concentrate on the mental aspects of their routines.

"We're going to concentrate on sharpening our routines," he said. "By missing routines you take yourself out of the game."

Lakeman summed it up.

"We're sort of waiting for it to come together," he said. "We've been working and we're confident."

In other words, they're banking on fate taking a turn for the better.