Kevin Cripanuk didn't know if he could do it. He would have to wait and see.

Teammate Jerry Robinson had a lead of approximately 30 meters on him at the final exchange.

The men's track team had even declared Robinson's relay team the favorite before the race.

The exciting 4x400 relay from Saturday's Nittany Lion Relays had excitement, suspense, crowd involvement and more.

The "B" team of R.B. Caldwell, Leif Steiner and Todd Kletter believed that when the exchange was made to anchor Robinson, the winners' T-shirts were in the bag.

The "A" team, Phil Mellott, Andy Scott and Ron Moore, wasn't sure its closer, Cripanuk, could pull out the victory.

But as the anchors reached the backstretch, the gap between the two slowly began shrinking. Cries of "(Robinson's) going to get swallowed up!" came from the rest of the team. As the two neared the homestrech, Cripanuk was not far behind.

"I got out hard and I would see at 200 meters as to whether I would be able to catch him," Cripanuk said."But my hamstring was bothering me, so I decided to wait until 300 meters to see. I was gaining on him and so I went for it."

Then the team split into warring factions and rooted their respective men home. As the two reached the finish, they got there almost simultaneously. Each team pleaded that its runner had won the race. The final judge was Coach Harry Groves.

In quite the diplomatic fashion, Groves decided the race a dead heat, much to the chagrin of the team, who wanted a definitive winner declared.

"Just as we reached the finish line, I lost Jerry in my peripheral vision," Cripanuk added. "So I really think that I won the race."

"I actually thought that I had won the race," Robinson said. "I thought that I had got it at the tape on the lean. As I got to the tape, I looked to my right and I thought my chest was out farther than his. But I don't know. I trust the judges' decision."

But Robinson never felt that the race was his, even from the exchange.

"Even at the exchange, I had heard him behind me," Robinson said. "I was maybe two or three seconds ahead, but I heard his footsteps the whole way. It turned out to be whether I could go out and hold it."

Both relays finished in a time of 3 minutes, 22.10 seconds. The "C" team of Bob Hamer, Austin Morrow, Rob Gough and Jon Strange finished last, coming in at 3:38.0.

In retrospect, the whole situation was good for the team.

"It was very fun -- great," Robinson said. "The entire team was involved and that brings us closer."