Penn State sophomore Brian Milne has taken to heart the words of U.S. Olympian Mike Powell: "inch by inch it's a cinch, yard by yard it's hard."

Translated by Milne, it means "if you plug away, good things will happen," and many good things have been happening all season for the Union City native.

Milne's specialty during the outdoor season is the discus. But he is having an excellent indoor season in the shot put, having beaten all of the collegiate competition that he has faced.

His only loss was to Phil Caraher, a former Lion, who competed unattached at the first meet of the season.

Milne also contributes points to the team score by consistently placing high in the 35-pound weight throw.

His goal all season has been to "just throw farther," and that's exactly what he has been doing.

Milne has consistently been throwing the shot put at 55-7 and over, a marked improvement from last year when he began his collegiate debut with a throw of 51-6. By the end of last spring, he had reached 53-5.

"From his freshman year until now he's gotten a personal record in almost every meet," Assistant Coach Bill Whittaker said. "He keeps chipping away at it. He's throwing close to 56 feet now."

Milne lives by the philosophy that "practice does not make perfect -- perfect practice makes perfect."

In order to reach his goals, he adheres to a strict program of throwing and lifting, which adds up to about 13-15 hours per week. He works out with free weights three days a week, and on the off days he gets in about 30 throws a day.

Milne's intensity and dedication to the sport are evident, but Coach Harry Groves points out that he also gives respectability to the sport.

"We can count on Brian not to be involved in any kind of subterfuge -- with him it's always honest throwing," Groves said. "He shows that not all great performers are cheaters."

Milne does not concern himself with how far his competitors throw.

"I really don't pay attention to anybody else, because I can't control what they do," he said. "I concentrate on what I have to do to improve and what I can do for the team."

Sports have always been a central part of Milne's life -- baseball, football and track to name a few --but for the last few years he has devoted his time almost exclusively to his track and field events.

"I've dedicated my life to throwing the shot put and discus," he said. "I love to do it. And not many people can do it."

In addition to striving for excellence in his field events, Milne also wants to achieve many other things in life. An exercise and sports science major, he is currently looking into becoming an exercise specialist. He also said he might want to teach health and physical education, as well as coach football and track someday.

Milne has had more than his fair share of adversity -- he defeated Hodgkin's disease nearly two years ago and he underwent an appendectomy last spring -- but he says, "somebody always has it worse than you, so don't gripe."

It is this strong-willed attitude that has also helped him achieve greatness in track.

"He's always been a hard worker and it carries over into the weight room and the classroom," Whittaker said. "He's a very organized and structured person. He sets his goals and sticks with them -- he doesn't let anything interfere."

While Milne's goal for the season is to keep throwing farther, his long-range goal is to be an Olympian.

A highlight of his stellar freshman season was when he broke the Nittany Lion track record for the discus with a throw of 207-5, last spring. The mark qualified him to compete in the discus at the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials. He missed making the team by only an inch.

"I have my eyes set on the '96 Olympics," Milne said. "The shot is a simpler event than the discus, so I have a better chance at the discus."