The Lady Lions will cover three states in three days with the Millrose Games in New York today, Hardees Invitational in Morgantown, WV., tomorow and the US Mobil Invitational in Fairfax, VA., on Sunday.

Key stats: The Lady Lions will be heading into their third competition of the season today in New York with one legitimate second-place finish to date. The second and third meets were non-scoring.

Preview: The distance medley-relay team will be looking to improve upon its National provisional qualifying time of 11:43.96 set last weekend in Boston. The four-woman relay team of Jenny Weaver, Jill Mallon, Kelly Hickman and Erin St. John must continue to improve in order to guarantee a position in National competition.

Coach Teri Jordan says: "We are looking forward to going to the Mobil meet this weekend and having the opportunity to race and to improve upon that (the distance medley team) performance. And in the Hardees meet we're tuning up other people for the Big Ten."

The 5-2 Lions will meet Southern Illinois in Iowa City at 7 p.m., tonight at the University of Iowa Fieldhouse pool. However, the big event gets underway at 2 p.m., tomorrow when Northwestern (5-5) and Iowa (3-4) hop in pool with the Lions for an important Big Ten matchup. With the Big Ten Championships only three weeks away, everything revolves around these conference matchups.

Key stats: After losing to Ohio State, 149-94, two weeks ago, Penn State is looking for redemption from any conference team. Coach Peter Brown will count on the depth of his team to make things happen. Opponents will have to look out for Chip Berry in the freestyle events and Chris Devine in diving. Northwestern coach Bob Groseth is concerned about the his team's lack of depth, but he will rely on Daniel Greyber to come through for him in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke. Iowa coach Glenn Patton will show off Rafal Szukala and Kris Cwalina, his top two swimmers, both natives of Poland. Szukala was the 100-meter butterfly silver medalist in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Injuries: There are no major injuries for any of the teams.

Preview: With this weekend's results, Brown will make his final decision about who will travel to Big Ten's in Minnesota. All but two spots have been filled and five swimmers are still competing for those.

Coach Brown says: "It's gonna be two days of tough competition that's gonna require a lot of discipline on our part because we're on the road. It's important for us to deal with that now, especially before Big Ten's."

Four Lions' gymnasts will be competing in the USA Winter Nationals at 7 p.m. today and tomorrow at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Key stats: Penn State gymnasts qualifying for the meet are Mike Masucci, Tony Pansy, J.M. Michel and Joe Roemer. Masucci, the Lions' coaching assistant, took the fifth spot on the senior national team at last year's competition. Pansy was also a member of last year's team, but was unable to compete in the summer championships because of injury. Former Lion gymnast Mark Sohn will be performing on the pommel horse in this competition.

Injuries: The four gymnasts are currently free from major injuries. Pansy and Michel are suffering fom minor shoulder injuries, but will be able to compete.

Preview: Competition for the Lions will be tough as the top gymnasts in the country will compete for limited spots on the national team. Masucci and Pansy will each perform for one of 14 places on the senior national team, while Michel and Roemer each will try to secure one of seven positions on the junior national team. Freshman Joe Roemer will be competing in his first USA Championship meet. Coach Randy Jepson expects this competition to be a "great experience" for him.

Coach Randy Jepson says: "I just hope they go out and perform to the best of their ability. If they do that, the results be what they may. You can't ask for anything more than that. I'm hopeful that definitely Mike can get on the team, but every meet's a new challenge."

No. 9 Penn State (1-3) will battle No. 10 Auburn (0-2), No. 18 Arizona (4-2), No. 20 Missouri (5-2), Kentucky (0-2) and Vermont (0-5) at 8 p.m. today and tomorrow in the Cat Classic at Missouri.

Key stats: The Lady Lions are coming off a disappointing upset loss at the hands of New Hampshire and West Virginia, where they scored a 187.775. Of the Lady Lions' five opponents in the meet, Auburn is coming off the strongest showing, posting a 189.90 in a loss against Louisiana State.

Junior Kerry Slattery led the Lady Lions in the all-around in their last meet, where she chalked up a 37.375.

Injuries: The only Lady Lion casualty for the meet is freshman Sharon Barbato, who will sit the Classic out due to shoulder tendonitis.

Preview: The Lady Lions are coming off a disappointing upset loss at the hands of New Hampshire and West Viginia, and are making their first road trip of the season.

The Lady Lions are not the only team in the meet coming off a loss, in fact all six competing squads are coming off decisive losses, and although four of the teams in the Classic are ranked, their combined records are only 10-16.

Coach Steve Shephard says: "It's really not important (that we win the meet). We just want to learn. It's a learning experience for us. We won last year, and it would be nice to win it this year."