With many of its top athletes nursing flu symptoms, the women's track team toughened up to make an excellent showing at Ohio State on Saturday.

Penn State finished second with a team score of 47, while national power Tennessee won the event with 58 points. Ohio State managed a third place finish (32), followed by Pitt (27).

"Sure, we were a little bit weaker from sickness,"said Coach Teri Jordan. "But it would be unrealistic for us to expect everyone to be 100-percent sharp. If we were, we would have nothing to look forward to."

Once again freshman Kim Kessell proved that she can certainly make a difference in only her first season, winning the shot put (47' 3") with her best effort of the year.

Wendy Nelson took first in the troublesome 5000-meter race with a time of 17:52.0. Apparently, the officials lost count during the 25-lap event, and the runners had to go an extra lap. Fortunately a Penn State assistant coach had been keeping individual lap times and the event was resolved without controversy. Also placing for the Lady Lions in the event were Leslee Martin (third, 18:20) and Amy Aston (fourth, 18:38).

"I wasn't really pleased with my time, but it helped with team points," Nelson said of her victory.

Jordan believes the times would have been lower if the lap-counting error would not have been made. "The last lap is always the fastest because a runner wants to finish strong. The runners didn't have that chance," she said.

Carmen Mann continued her winning ways by placing first in the triple jump (40 feet), second in the long jump (19' 4"), fifth in the 500-meter run (1:17.43) and sixth in the 55-meter hurdles (8.8).

The mile relay team remained solid by taking first with its season-best (3:49.99). Pam Connell's second-place time of 1:15.42 in the 500-meter run qualified her for the ECAC Championships in March.

Kiernan O'Toole placed second in the 1000-meter race (2:56.06), also qualifying her for the ECAC Championships, and Freshman Laurie Morrow took third with a time of 2:57.89.

In the 3000-meter run Nelson took second (10:23.33), Becky Williams was third (10:25.81), and Kathy Pitcher finished fourth (10:26.59).

Shelly Mitchell took second in the high jump (5' 8"), while Leslie Lippincott placed fourth (5' 5"). Ernestine Marsh placed third in the 400-meter race with her season best (57.88).

Other strong performances were Deb Ford in the triple jump (fourth, 37"), O'Toole (fourth, 2:16.27) and Jennifer Prutzman (fifth, 2:20.77) in the 800-meter race, Dana Dougan in the mile (fifth, 5:06.82) and Leslie Hummer in the 55-meter dash (7.4).

"I'm pleased with finishing second, but it would have been nice to beat a nationally ranked team like Tennessee," Jordan said. "If we had been a bit healthier we would have had a pretty good shot at beating them." She also noted that her team avenged last year's loss to Ohio State.

The team will next host the Lady Lion Classic on Jan. 28. The event will be for individual competition, focusing on qualifying times for the upcoming ECAC and NCAA Championships.