"About the same, about the same," is how Penn State men's gymnastics coach Randy Jepson compared his team's two most recent meets against Stanford and Army.

No. 4 Penn State was able to knock off then-No. 10 Stanford in Palo Alto, Ca., March 6, 216.350-214.575, and then the Nittany Lions defeated No. 12 Army 218.800-207.475 Saturday on senior night in Rec Hall.

The Lions performances during the two meets were about the same as they have been all year, at least in many respects.

They would perform well enough to get a win and show flashes of brilliance that hinted at possible repeat performances of a 2000 national championship and a 2003 Big Ten championship.

However, inconsistency always found a way to creep in to a routine, or several routines, and make it clear that Penn State has just a few more steps to take before it can dream of championships.

"We're not competing nearly as consistent as I'd like," Jepson said. "We will have to be sharper to win a Big Ten championship; there's no question."

Getting sharper is something that Jepson says will happen when all of the Lions' top gymnasts compete together. He's been utilizing different rotations to get several athletes healthy for Big Tens and Nationals.

One gymnast that returned to the Lions' lineup against Army was sophomore all-arounder Luis Vargas.

"Getting him back in is a big lift to us," Jepson said. "You know he's strong on everything, so that's a huge lift."

Vargas had a brilliant meet, winning the floor exercise, pommel horse and parallel bars, and tying teammate Ed Seward for first on the high bar.

For his efforts, Vargas earned the Gene Wettstone Award, which is given to the meet's best gymnast and is named in honor of the Lions former coach.

Decorated senior Kevin Tan capped off his collegiate career at Rec Hall with a first-place score of 54.850 in the all-around competition. And Tan's last meet in Rec Hall wouldn't have been complete without one final impressive still rings performance by the apparatus' defending Big Ten and national champion. He dominated the competition, which included the nation's No. 2-ranked ring man, Army's Brian Lee, with a 9.900 score.

Penn State's Chad Buczek finished second behind Tan in the all-around with a 53.550 after posting third-place scores in floor, rings, vault and parallel bars. Penn State senior Zack Roeder scored a 9.300 on the vault and tied teammate Ludwig Kern for first place.

Duke Van Vleet, Penn State's senior captain, ended his career at Rec Hall Saturday, but he isn't ready to call it quits yet.

Neither are his teammates.

"We still have a season to complete," Van Vleet said. "The good thing is we haven't peaked yet, and I think the guys realize that.... We can be ranked No. 4, No. 10 or No. 1 and it doesn't matter unless you hit that day, and we have room to hit."