The women's indoor track team (3-1) came out of Saturday's quad meet with Michigan, Michigan State and Notre Dame with much more than just a second-place finish.

Coming up only 7.5 points short of a win over reigning conference champion Michigan, the Lady Lions gained the confidence they will need to face the Wolverines at the Big Ten Championships in two weeks.

Penn State was at the other end of the scoring spectrum last season, placing tenth at the championships.

In the Lady Lions' last regular-season indoor competition, they posted 141.5 points, defeating Michigan State (117.5) and Notre Dame (115). Host Michigan won with 149 points.

Lady Lion Coach Teri Jordan said a string of serious last-minute problems did not destroy the meet.

"We know that even though we're not 100 percent up to par, we can still do well," Jordan said. "Usually, our strength lies in distance. This time everyone else carried the team."

Beginning with freshman Caryn Benjamin's injury after falling on a hurdle on Tuesday, the Lady Lions' luck ran out. While in Michigan, junior Jill Kern discovered she would not be able to run due to tendonitis in her ankle. Then, sophomore Erin St. John contracted a flu virus, so her times were slower than usual.

"We were just off, and so the first few events didn't start off as well as we might have expected," Jordan said.

But seniors Kris Kelly and Kelly Hickman and sophomores Tonya Strother and Nicole and Monique Gillman picked up the slack. Jordan said Kelly outdid herself by winning the 5,000 meters and then coming back to place fifth in the 3,000-meter run. Hickman also chalked up more meters than usual, turning in three quarter-mile sprints.

Strother placed third in the 200 meters and shaved one-tenth of a second off her personal record time, running a 25.70. She also contributed with a third place in the 55-meter dash.

Another personal best was turned in by senior Holly Jones in the shot put. Jones recorded a distance of 45-7, and took second in both the shot put and the high jump.

The Gillman twins also stepped up to tighten the score, taking first and second in the long jump. Nicole Gillman said she enjoyed winning the event, though she would have liked her jump to be closer to her personal best jump of 17-11.

"I came close to it last week," she said. "To get out there again, I have to work hard and remember the techniques and mechanics."

Last week, Jordan said she expected the distance medley relay to qualify for nationals. But the fate of the team took a turn for the worse.

"It just wasn't going to happen with Erin being sick," Jordan said.

Jordan added she hopes everyone will recover in time for the Big Ten Championships on Feb. 24-25. The injuries and sicknesses have been setbacks in training, but Jordan said she hopes postseason meets will be unaffected.

"I thought we'd have a couple national qualifications out of the way," Jordan said, "but I'd rather peak at the end of the season than the middle."