Hard work pays off in championships and recognition, and if you're part of the Penn State men's gymnastics team, this weekend you will finally receive both. The team's national championship banner from last April will be hung in Rec Hall to signal the start of the Nittany Lions' home competition.

They open with a dual meet against Temple and Navy; Temple being nine spots behind third-ranked Penn State in the preseason poll. Senior Temple gymnast Nyika White took home his second consecutive All-America title on the rings and placed second in the event at the NCAA Championships last year behind Penn State's own Kevin Tan.

"We are focusing more on our performance [than the other teams]," Penn State coach Randy Jepson said. "The team is working on fitness and being strong at the end. Last time we were tired at the last two events."

The team adds a new member for the new year, Vladi Klurman, who joins the Lions from Massachusetts.

Perfection sometimes comes at a high cost, and the team is willing to pay. The Lions would like to be repeating champions, but there are other things that hold their attention so early on.

"We need work on the parallel and high bars," Jepson said.

"The team needs competition for exposure; and with that comes depth."

The depth is what got the team its 11th National Championship last year. While the seniors are looked to for leadership, freshmen to step it up and earn their spot, Jepson is calling on an unlikely group to be the edgy competitive ones -- the sophomores.

The team puts in many hours of practice a day to overcome the obstacle of fatigue.

"More consistency is what we need," Jepson said. "The last meet we were at 69 percent. We need to be around 80 percent."

It just isn't all work and no play for the team, though. Penn State seems optimistic going into its first home match and rebounding stronger than expected, which can only lead to further acknowledgment.