On the women's side of the 16th annual Nittany Valley Arts Festival 10K Road Race, Penn State's own Wendy Nelson won the competition in a record-breaking time of 36 minutes and 16 seconds, breaking the old mark of 37:46.

It was her third straight first-place overall women's division finish in the race. She beat out second place finisher, Anne Nash of State College by 1:38.

"The race conditions were kind of warm, but it sure beat last year's humid conditions as a result of a rain storm," Nelson said. "When I heard my first split, at the half-way mark, I knew that I had a chance at breaking the record."

Nelson wants to run a marathon in October to qualify for the Olympic Trials in New Orleans, which will hopefully gain her a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992.

Her accomplishments on the women's track team have given her prior experience competing against teams from around the country and meeting new people.

"Probably my greatest accomplishment at Penn State was when I went to the nationals in cross country," Nelson said. "It has given me confidence to know that I am setting realistic goals for myself."

One of her goals was winning yesterday's race. Nelson was confident she could do it, but she knew it wouldn't be easy.

"This race is very hard, especially the stretch on Burrowes Road, because it is uphill and really takes a lot out of you," she says. "It is a challenge that really gives many people trouble.

"The competition was tough, and there were many good young runners in the field. If they all come back next year, it will be a very competitive race."

Nelson, 22, is majoring in secondary education in English, and will be student teaching at Lewistown High School this fall. But she plans to compete as long as she can.

"I hope to stay in running for a long time to come, because it gives me something to fall back on when I have nothing to do, which isn't very often," she said. "There is always something to do."