Maintaining performance and seizing opportunities will be the keys to a successful trip this weekend when the Penn State men's gymnastics team travels to Las Vegas for the Winter Cup.

Although the Nittany Lions have dominated in three previous matches, coach Randy Jepson still sees room for improvement, especially on the pommel horse and parallel bars.

"Our pommel horse routines are better to some degree," Jepson said.

Though they are still not up to the high standards that the team has set for itself, Jepson said that there was a more consistent effort at last week's West Point Open.

He is now looking toward consistency because of the drop-off in the small, nagging injuries that have plagued the team in the early goings of the season. The Lions have been able to work through those little setbacks because of their overall depth, Jepson said.

If practices are indicative of how the team will perform in Las Vegas, then Penn State should thrive this weekend. Jepson has noticed a great change recently at the team's daily workouts.

"Things are starting to be refined during practice," he said.

There will be six Lions competing at the Winter Cup, as this is a qualifying event. Each athlete has to either be on the national team or send in tapes to meet the requirements, and only a selected number are chosen.

Contending from Penn State are Chad Buczek, Matt Cohen, Derek Helsby, newcomer Vladi Klurman and team captain Steve Tobin. Kevin Tan, a former Penn State gymnast who now aids in coaching the team, will also test the waters in Las Vegas.

With most of the team sitting out of this competition, many athletes will receive a much-needed rest after two consecutive weeks of competition. It will be a nice break before heading into Illinois in a week for a meet against a Big Ten opponent.

These six athletes will face the best of the best. They will be up against not only the top collegiate gymnasts in the country, but also against the top high school athletes and Junior National-level competitors.

Jepson is treating the meet as a win-win situation for his athletes.

"It's a great opportunity. They're going to be up against great athletes," he said.

Even if they do not make it to the finals on Saturday night -- which Jepson knows is a tall task in itself -- they will have competed at a high level, and they will still have a sufficient recovery period for Illinois.

"We don't want to use them too early [in the season] or too often," Jepson said. "It's all part of that focus toward the end of the season."