On Thanksgiving Day, Penn State freshman gymnast Luis Vargas was traveling on a plane, but not one bound for his home of Rio Piedros, Puerto Rico. Instead Vargas and Penn State men's gymnastics coach Randy Jepson took a flight to El Salvador, where Vargas competed in the Central American Games.

Although Vargas was absent from his Puerto Rico Federation team while training at Penn State for the upcoming gymnastics season, it did not have an effect on his routines or the results of the artistic gymnastics competition at the Central American Games.

Vargas helped lead Puerto Rico to the team gold medal while capturing four medals of his own, the most prestigious being a silver medal in the individual all-around.

"I was thrilled when the meet started," Jepson said. "[Vargas] raised his hand and he just banged out his routines and did what he had to do." Vargas, however, is no stranger to international competition. He began participating in gymnastics at age six when he started training on Saturdays for his Puerto Rico club team. Training on weekends quickly turned into practicing all week long. As Vargas grew older, he moved on to the Puerto Rico Federation team and started to compete internationally for his country. Vargas' abilities have carried him to five international competitions thus far in his gymnastics career, including the 1999 World Championships in China.

"I did pretty good, but that was my first World Championships," Vargas said. "I was competing against Olympic athletes so I was pretty nervous."

But Vargas' nervousness subsided during the 2001 Pan American Games, where he finished third overall, first in the pommel horse and third in the high bar. Although Vargas' international competitions are on hold until the 2003 Pan American Games and 2003 World Championships in August, Jepson has been working on training Vargas for those competitions and hopefully the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

"That's the plan to prepare him for the Olympic Games," Jepson said. "And I know that his Federation has high hopes that he'll have a spot in the games and has every intention to get him to that point."

While Jepson and Vargas have great aspirations for the future, Vargas has remained focused and happy to be competing for the Nittany Lions at the collegiate level.

"It was my first and only option to come to Penn State," Vargas said. "Everything was so good and they treated me so good and it felt like home." Vargas' transition from his home in Puerto Rico to Penn State went just as smooth as his transition to collegiate gymnastics. In his first meet, he captured the all-around title with a score 51.6 at the West Point Open while leading the Lions to the team victory.

"It's nice knowing that you've got a guy who is a good anchor on some events," Jepson said. "I know that when the meets are tight and tough, he is an excellent competitor and he showed it this past weekend." And his teammates feel the same way.

"He is one of my best friends on the team and a really good gymnast," senior captain Jose Palacios said. "You're going to hear from him in a few years." After coming off a great performance at the Central American Games and an all-around title in his first meet, Vargas' talent is starting to become recognized, but his overall goals and modesty have not changed.

"My goal for my team is to win the NCAA championships," Vargas said.