The annual Winter Cup event for men's gymnastics was held Friday and Saturday in Las Vegas to jump-start the year's national and international competitions, and also to determine six new members of the U.S. National Team.

Several Penn State gymnasts made the trip west to compete for national exposure, but none of the Nittany Lions won a spot on the national team. That is not to say the Lions weren't well represented.

Kevin Tan and Zack Roeder, two senior leaders for the Lions, performed well enough during Friday's all-around competition to make it to the event finals.

Tan once again was brilliant on the still rings, posting a career-best 9.925 that gave him top billing in the event during the all-around, and he did not disappoint the following night in the ring finals. Tan took first place in the finals with a score of 9.875.

Tan's strong showing in the rings elevated him to 17th in the all-around scoring with 52.875, but his scores in the other events Friday were too low to place him near the top.

Roeder, competing in three events, captured a spot in the event finals of the pommel horse with a fifth-place score of 9.450.

However, a substantially lower mark of 7.35 earned him ninth place in the finals.

Sophomores Luis Vargas, who also made the event final in the pommel horse, and Chad Buczek had stellar competitions for the Lions.

Vargas' performances were only for show though, because he is a member of the Puerto Rican National Team. Nonetheless, his scores earned him 21st-place in the all-around on Friday.

Buczek finished 50th overall in the all-around with a score of 48.275.

-- By Chad Reot