The name is misleading.

George Mason's Last Chance Invitational on Sunday isn't really the last chance for members of the women's track team to qualify for the ECAC championships. The Lady Lions will host their own "Last Chance" Invitational next weekend.

The competition between Penn State and George Mason extends beyond scheduling similar meets. The Lady Patriots are the team's biggest rival this year for the ECAC title. Penn State won it last year, and George Mason placed third.

"We're always happy to compete against Penn State. They're one of the best in the East, and we always think of them as the team to beat," George Mason coach Norman Gordon said.

Though team scores won't be kept Sunday as they are at the ECAC championships, the meet will still be a good dress rehearsal for ECACs because so many schools that compete there will also be in Virginia Sunday.

George Mason has 14 or 15 athletes qualified for ECACs and also boasts sophomore Loretta Miller, an NCAA qualifier in the mile.

The Lady Lions will also face mile-relay powerhouses Howard and Morgan State as well as individual standouts from Virginia and strong sprinters from West Virginia.

Other ECAC contenders such as Temple, Rutgers, and St. Joseph's will also compete in the meet, though Big East schools won't be at the invitational because they will be at their championships.

One of the team's goals for this weekend is to decide in which events the more versatile athletes should be placed for the coming championships.

"For some, it's easy to decide, but for people like Carmen Mann, Pam Connell and Shelley Mitchell who can do so much, this meet should give us more of an indication," Coach Teri Jordan said.

A second goal is to qualify those athletes for ECACs who haven't already done so. Twenty-one people have qualified so far, and many others are close. These include Melynda Heckman in the pentathlon, Leslie Hummer and Shelley Mitchell in the 200 meters, Mary Beth Powers in the 800 meters, Amanda Dudley in the mile and Carol Davis in the 5,000.

On the national level, Stacy Prey would like to improve her third-best time in the nation in the 5,000 meters to automatically qualify for the NCAAs. In addition, the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter relay teams are both looking to provisionally qualify for the NCAAs. In addition, the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter relay teams are both looking to provisionally qualify for the NCAAs.

With the help of an excellent facility, Leslie Lipincott and Deb Ford will try to improve their high jumps to make the provisional NCAA mark. Jackie Brown will use the fast track at George Mason to her advantage to shave her school record breaking times in the 200 and 55 meters to make the provisional NCAA qualifying times.

Carmen Mann, who has already automatically qualified for the NCAAs in the long and triple jumps, will not jump Sunday because the facilities are not optimum, Jordan said.

The team has great ambition, but it is also tired. The women have been on the road three weekends in a row, the last two road trips having split the team between two meets. And they have also been hit with the first round of mid-terms, adding to their exhaustion.

Jordan has been trying to relieve the runners' stress by lightening practices and taking them outside when the weather was warm. Despite her efforts, she said, the self-imposed stress persists.

She talked about one particular runner who she exempted from practice because she was worried about tests she had the next day. But she ended up running anyway because she was worried about not practicing.

"They stress if they do (practice) and they stress if they don't," Jordan said.

This meet will provide reprieve at least from the extensive traveling, as George Mason is only three and a half hours away.