Saturday's men's indoor track and field meet became a heated contest between Penn State and Kent State, with both teams dominating and stealing events and the Lions finally prevailing. It was the event that didn't count, however, that people will remember.

The highlight of the meet became the men's mile relay. In the middle of the second leg, the third leg runners stepped out onto the track to receive the baton. The only problem -- they were a lap early. All the teams except for Penn State passed off, and were subsequently disqualified.

"Three people stepped on the track early . . . I don't know whose fault it was," Kent Coach Rod O'Donnell said. "It was a mistake that was made, and it didn't make a difference in the outcome of the meet."

The race was subsequently ruled a non-contest, which was described by O'Donnell as "a very first class move."

Penn State, who won the meet with 83 points, and Kent State, who finished with 65 points, battled back and forth for the lead. Division II competitors Shippensburg and East Stroudsburg barely made a difference with 11 and five points respectively.

"(It) wasn't a walk through. We had to get organized to beat these guys," Coach Harry Groves said.

It was the events that did count which were the important ones, and it was individuals who stole away the important points for their teams.

The 55-meter dash was dominated by Penn State, which placed five finalists. But it was the Golden Flashes' John Andrews, the only non-Nittany Lion finalist, who finished second and gained valuable points for Kent State. Similarly, in the shot put, Penn State's Bill McGinley and Rob Austin finished fifth and sixth, respectively, stealing some of the Flashes' thunder.

"I think that guys made up for places we didn't do well," Coach Harry Groves said.

Penn State's Antonio Davis, who suffered a separated shoulder last weekend, still managed to win the long jump and place second behind Kent's Mike Lowe in the triple jump. Davis was also one of the finalists in the dash. Other athletes, such as Tom Bisko, Mark Crawford and Bob Hamer, scored points for the Lions in multiple events, but it was a team effort that ultimately won the meet.

"Sometimes we were up and sometimes down, we kept hammering at them all day," Davis said.