On the road to success, there are often many obstacles that one must first overcome. From senior Duke Van Vleet's season-ending injury to junior Zach Roeder's bout with mononucleosis, the Penn State men's gymnastics squad learned this fact first-hand this season. However, in the end, the team persevered, culminating in a first-ever Big Ten crown, an NCAA individual champion, and eight All-American titles. From the beginning of the season, the squad focused on performing to the best of its abilities and trying to remain healthy, a problem that haunted the Nittany Lions last year. Thus, when Van Vleet went down with a torn pectoral muscle, the Lions quickly plugged any holes in the lineup that his absence may have inflicted, and went about their normal business -- winning meets. Indeed, winning meets was all the Lions seemed to do this year, finishing with an undefeated dual-meet season, the first under the leadership of head coach Randy Jepson.

For Roeder in particular, the season was one of extreme highs and lows. After being diagnosed with mononucelosis early in the year, he feared his season was over before it even began. However, after a full recovery, the junior returned to the lineup, and earned his first career All-American titles by placing second at NCAA's on the pommel horse and the vault.

"Before this year began, I had a goal of earning All-American honors, but once my health problems began I thought the goal would have to wait," Roeder said. "My return from mono was a very emotional competition and placing second on two events in the NCAA finals is something I will never forget. I just wanted to represent my team and do my best and it turned out to be the best I've ever been."

Aside from Roeder's emotional comeback, the Lions experienced many other high peaks in their season. In February, the squad defeated Ohio State in the Bryce Jordan Center and went on to further dominate the Buckeyes, and the rest of the conference, at the Big Ten Championships a month later. However, the momentum came to a halt at the NCAA Championships, where the squad finished third behind Oklahoma and Ohio State. "One of my goals for our team this season was to win the national championship for the first time since 2000," Roeder said. "We placed third but I am not disappointed in our performance as a team. We worked hard all season long and tried our best and I just can't be disappointed in that." Indeed, while third place may not have been the finish the squad dreamed of, the national championship did bring a positive ending of some sort. Junior Kevin Tan won the 46th individual national championship crown in the program's history, claiming the rings title with a 9.762, after just missing the big prize last year. Additionally, Tan earned an All-American honor on the high bar, placing second with a 9.625.

"I consider this year to be a great year," Tan said. "I accomplished everything I wanted to do and being the national champion on rings is one of my most memorable moments this season." Aside from Roeder and Tan's heroics, senior Kevin Donohue finished his strong season with his fourth career All-American title, placing fifth on high bar with a 9.312. Sophomore Ludwig Kern earned his first All-American crown with a sixth place showing on vault and Luis Vargas finished his freshman campaign with two All-American honors, placing sixth on parallel bars and high bar. All in all, this season was one of achievement and great success for the Lions. With the departure of Donohue and fellow seniors Matt Abboud, Jay Kim and Jose Palacios, the Lions will once again look to rebuild and remain as injury-free as possible, in hopes of a return trip to the NCAA Championships, and another possible crown.