When sophomore Mary Beth Powers strained her leg 10 minutes before the distance medley relay, Coach Teri Jordan suddenly had to call upon senior Pam Connell and sophomore Jen Prutzman to prepare for the 800-meter leg of the race.

"In a time of panic, both showed willingness (to fill in for Powers)," Jordan said.

Prutzman, an 800-meter runner, ended up running the relay with juniors Amanda Dudley and Leslie Hummer and sophomore Laurie Morrow. They finished second with an ECAC qualifying time of 12:04.68, which Jordan hopes will get them into the fast heat of the ECACs.

"I didn't have time to get nervous. I certainly wasn't expecting it. But I knew Mary Beth would have done it for me," Prutzman said.

Perhaps it's this kind of positive attitude Prutzman exemplified that led the women's track tearn to three first places, a host of second places and many ECAC qualifying times at the Yale Invitational in New Haven, Connecticut on Saturday.

Thirty-five teams participated in the meet, making the competition tough in all the events. Jordan believes that the team "rose to the occasion" and thinks that the team is beginning its season very well.

The 1,600-meter relay team of Hummer, senior jumping captain Carmen Mann, and sophomores Shelley Mitchell and Jackie Brown won with an ECAC qualifying time of 3:55.94. Mann and Mitchell also teamed with seniors Pam Connell and Deb Ford to win the shuttle hurdle relay with a time of 32.8.

The third victorious performance for Penn State came from sophomore Kim Kessell in the shot put with a throw of 44' 10 1/4". Freshman Jen Crouch placed fourth with a throw of 40' 11" and senior Brenna O'Connor placed eighth with 37' 10 1/2".

In the 5,000-meter race, senior distance captain Stacy Prey ran 17:06.25 for second place and junior Wendy Nelson placed third in 17:24.56; both women qualified for the ECACs. Jordan called these distance runners' performances significant, as both were early-season personal bests.

One of the most highly contested events was the pentathalon. Connell, who won this event here last year, finished second by just two points to Shanta Williams of Seton Hall. But to Connell, the score, not the place is important. She didn't win this year, but she scored 35 points higher than last year with a 3,808 point total.

"The competition was much better this year. For this time of season, I guess it was a good score," Connell said. She did well in the high jump portion, clearing 5'7", but believes she needs to improve her long jump and hurdles.

Ford joined Connell to qualify for ECACs in the pentathalon as she placed fifth with 3,309.

Mann had solid jumps in both the triple and long jumps. She provisionally qualified for the NCAAs in the triple jump with 40' 1 1/4" for third place and stole second place in the long jump, leaping 19' 4 3/4".

Other top finishes came from freshman Stacy Frank, who threw the 20-pound weight 46' 6 1/4", a personal best. Sophomore Leslie Lippincott repeated her 5'8" of last weekend to win second place in the high jump, and junior Martha Obidinski ran 2:18.3.9 in the 800 meters, also for second place.

Based on these results, Jordan might be trying some runners in different events at home this Saturday in the Lady Lion Classic when they face Georgetown and Lock Haven.