The Lady Lions will travel to New York to compete in the Syracuse Invitational at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Manley Field House. Penn State will take on teams from Connecticut, Cortland, Geneseo, Ithaca and Ottawa.

Key stats: At last week's Terrier Classic in Boston, Penn State's 4x800-meter relay team -- Tresa Hohnka, Sue Huelster, Jill Kern and Anna DeRenzi -- placed first, while junior Holly Jones took third in the high jump with a mark of 5-3.

Injuries: No major injuries to report.

Preview: This is an important meet for the Lady Lions to win because Connecticut and Syracuse have improved, Coach Teri Jordan said.

The Orangewomen are led by senior Lesa Francis, who was named to the Big East Academic All-star team and was named Syracuse's most improved performer last year. Junior Sandy McFarland won the 400-meter dash and finished fourth in the 55-meter dash at the Invitational last season.

Coach Jordan says: "This meet is a tune-up for our meet next week against Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame. It is a meet where we will strive to make improvements and focus on individual events."

The Nittany Lions will compete in the Patriot Games in Fairfax, Va. Penn State battles Florida, Florida State, North Carolina, Georgetown, James Madison, Miami (Fla.), Louisiana State and George Mason at 12:40 p.m. tomorrow at the George Mason Field House.

Injuries: No major injuries to report.

Key Stats: Penn State's Jake Bartholomy won the 3,000 meters last week at the Florida Barnett Bank Invitational with a time of 8:26.92. Vin Stewart took first place in the shot put in each of the Lions first three meets. Last week, he won with a throw of 56-2. Bob Hamer finished third in the mile run last week behind Florida's Andre Jakubiec and Donnell Johnson.

Preview: A few of the teams competing in the Patriot Games also met last week in the Florida Invitational. Florida won the event with 115 points, followed by sixth-place Miami (36), seventh-place Penn State (34.5), ninth-place George Mason (10) and 11th-place Georgetown (6).

Four of the top-five finishers in the Florida Invitational's premier event, the distance medley relay, will compete on Saturday. Florida won the event with a time of 9:33.06. Georgetown finished third (9:38.08), George Mason took fourth (9:38.29) and Penn State was fifth (9:58.29).

Coach Harry Groves says: "You're going to compete against good people in all events. It's why you get teams together like this, to sharpen people up."

George Mason Coach John Cook says: "We haven't had a collegiate meet like this since the early '80s, when teams like Penn State, Tennessee and Texas were here. Good athletes mean good events."

Penn State (0-0) takes on Virginia (0-0) at noon Sunday in Holuba Hall. The teams will play two six-inning scrimmages.

Key stats: The Lady Lions lost only two players to graduation and now boast six pitchers on the staff -- juniors Gypsy Gooding and Heidi Hanna, sophomore Misty Hackett and freshmen Sara Henick, Jennifer Hippo and Anje Schwab.

Virginia is led by pitcher Michelle Collins -- who was a member of last year's first-team All-ACC and the most valuable player of the ACC Tournament -- and utility player Tanya Spishak, who was named to both the All-ACC team and the ACC All-Tournament team.

Injuries: Lady Lions Bobbi Jo Davidson, who is suffering from a hurt rotator cuff, and Chris Kinner, who is out with a bad knee, will miss the entire season. Both plan to redshirt. No major injuries for Virginia.

Preview: These scrimmages will be the first real "game action" of the season for both teams. Penn State Coach Sue Rankin expects Virginia to use Collins against the Lady Lions, but she has not decided how many of the Penn State hurlers will see action against the Cavaliers. Last season, Penn State finished 10-40 overall, 6-22 in the Big Ten.

Coach Rankin says: "It's a game situation. We've had enough time last fall and Jan. 8, when we started practicing to have intersquads (scrimmages). We're looking at this as our first game."

No. 10 Penn State (3-1) will travel to Kansas City, Mo., to take on No. 7 Arizona (2-1), No. 14 Kentucky (0-2), Auburn (0-3), Missouri (1-5) and Pittsburgh (2-4) at 7 p.m. today and tomorrow in the Cat Classic.

Key stats: Penn State's Tracy Kerner is ranked No. 8 on the uneven bars, No. 10 on the floor and No. 19 on the balance beam. Kentucky boasts Jenny Hansen, who ranks No. 2 in the all-around and floor, No. 4 on vault and No. 11 on beam. Arizona's Tenli Poggemeyer is ranked No. 8 on bars, No. 12 in the all-around and No. 19 on the beam.

Injuries: No major injuries to report.

Preview: Which feline will be left standing on all fours? Will it be the Wildcats of Arizona or Kentucky, the Tigers of Missouri or Auburn, or the Panthers of Pittsburgh? Last year, Missouri topped Penn State 191.1-190.6. Penn State Coach Steve Shephard believes his Lady Lions can become king of beasts this year.

"We think that if we perform well, we can definitely win," he said.

In the Lady Lions' first two meets, freshman Joanna Knox won the all-around, where she is ranked 15th nationally. Freshman Liz Agnew won the all-around in last meet. Shephard has not decided who will compete in the all-around tonight.

Coach Shephard says: "This is a good opportunity for our athletes to test themselves against good competition."

Missouri Coach Charles Jacobson says: "It's going to be a real cat fight."

The Nittany Lions (2-4, 0-2 Big Ten) meet Michigan State at noon tomorrow in East Lansing, Mich.

Key stats: The Lions will try to bounce back after two losses two weeks ago at the hands of Pittsburgh and Ohio State.

Injuries: No major injuries to report.

Preview: In diving, Michigan State's John Maxson could challenge Lion Chris Devine. Michigan State Coach Ralph Bader said Devine is greatly favored.

Lion MacGregor Fraser will return to swim the butterfly after being away from his prime stroke because of a shoulder injury.

Penn State Coach Peter Brown says: "We are going to have to put up a good, strong lineup if we are going to come out on the winning end. We can't take anything for granted, and we'll have to be on our toes."

Coach Bader says: "We're not 100 percent, but that doesn't matter as long as our people stand up and perform. We are looking forward to this opportunity to swim Penn State."