When senior jumping captain Carmen Mann realized that she had long- jumped 20'7½" to not only win the event, but also qualify for NCAAs and break her own school record, the corners of her mouth turned upward into a smile that was almost as wide as her jump was long.

About an hour later, she did it again. Only this time it was in the triple jump. She jumped 41'5¾" to win her second event of the afternoon, qualify for a second event for the NCAAs and break a second school record she already held.

Not bad for a day's work.

At last, everything came together for Mann Saturday at the Lady Lion Classic at which Penn State hosted Georgetown, Lock Haven and late entry Navy.

"This week at practice we worked on just one aspect of my jump, which I thought about more today than I did the past few weeks, and I felt it actually coming into place and doing what I wanted to do. Finally," Mann said.

Mann said she previously had jumped the triple as only one jump with three phases. The change she made was to jump the event as three separate jumps.

But Mann sees more room for improvement, especially in her triple jump. Apart from jumping, she would also like to get her mile-relay team qualified for NCAAs. Mann, senior Pam Connell, junior Leslie Hummer and sophomore Jackie Brown qualified for ECACs Saturday but placed second to Georgetown.

Throughout most of the race, Penn State and Georgetown were headed for a photo finish.

Indeed, it was exciting to watch.

It was exciting to run, also. Perhaps a little too exciting. In the last handoff of the stick, from Hummer to Brown, Penn State bobbled.

"Jackie got a little excited and took out a little fast before the handoff was taken. That's good, though, that it happens here, so that you get those types of bugs worked out of the system," Coach Teri Jordan said.

"My blood was running all crazy, and then the stick pass . . . I was like, 'Oh my God.' My only intention was just to get the stick, and try to get back into the race," Brown said.

Though Brown didn't catch the Lady Hoya runner, she came close. And even with the mistake and Penn State's shorter track, which adds about two seconds to each person's split, the team still ran almost the same time as it did at Yale last weekend.

Brown's error in the mile relay seemed to be her only one of the meet. Feeling tighter than usual, she was surprised to do as well as she did. Brown beat Michelle Bonaldus of Navy to win the 220-yard dash in 25.35 seconds. She also broke the school record in the 55-meter dash when she ran a 7.11 to win and qualify for ECACs.

Onto her next goal: to qualify for the NCAAs. Though Brown is very close to doing so in both events, she remains nonchalant. "If that (qualifying for the NCAAs) happens, I'll be happy . . ."

Overall, the Lady Lion Classic gave rise to some heated competition between Penn State and Georgetown. If one measured the meet by first places earned, the Lady Hoyas would have a slight edge over Penn State with eight wins to six.

But Jordan pointed out that because some runners competed in shorter races than usual to work on speed for next weekend's Terrier Classic, it was tougher to dominate the meet.

"But nonetheless, I think our people competed very well, made some great progress, and looking down the road, I think it's going to be a great competition and great meet for ECACs," Jordan said.

Georgetown assistant coach Ron Helmer was equally satisfied with his runners. He said they ran aggressively and qualified many for ECACs.

Middle distance captain Teressa DiPerna, a senior, exceeded her expectation s in the 880-yard run when she finished second in 2:14.9, only .6 seconds behind Diedre Fleming of Georgetown. Out with injury, DiPerna competed in her first meet since cross-country season in October.

Sophomore Shelley Mitchell won the pentathlon with a point total of 3,250, which qualified her for ECACs. Mitchell competes in a variety of events, and Jordan wanted to get her qualified in the pentathlon so they would have the option of using her in this event in ECACs if desired.

"She is so versatile that it's hard to decide what event to put her in," Jordan said.

Junior Wendy Nelson, who normally runs the 5,000-meter, ran the mile and came in second with 5:05.0 to Georgetown runner Mary Noel Zadnic, who ran a 4:53.9. In the two-mile run, the Georgetown stole the top four finishes, and Lady Lion junior Carol Davis placed fifth in 11:17.3.

The Lady Hoyas also dominated the 1,000-yard run with Aaronda Watson and Susan Dahm taking first and second place, followed by Penn State's distance captain senior Stacy Prey.

Georgetown freshman Judith Owen won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.27, ahead of Mann with 8.45. Both women qualified for the ECACs in this event. Connell and senior Deb Ford were third and fourth, respectively.

Though Georgetown won many of the races, Penn State dominated the field events. Sophomore Kim Kessell put the shot 44'6" to win, followed by Penn State junior Brenna O'Connor and freshman Jen Crouch. Competing unattached, Penn State alumnus Karen Bill won the 20-pound weight throw with 46', one foot ahead of sophomore Stacey Frank. Senior Jennifer Lee was third with 42'5".