Trackman Loner is just that in the Big Tens winner's circle

Despite Joe Loner's record-breaking victory in the 800-meter run, the Penn State men's indoor track team could not avoid finishing in 10th place for a second consecutive year at Big Ten indoor track and field championships.

Wisconsin won the meet, capturing its third straight indoor conference crown. The Badgers racked up 126 points, easily topping second-place Illinois' 97. Minnesota led after one day of competition but fell to third after Sunday's final events.

For Penn State, Loner earned the Big Ten championship in the 800 with a time of 1 minute, 50 seconds, edging out Robert Truce and Courtney Lamb from Illinois. Loner's time was the fastest ever run at Iowa's Recreation Building, and it also made him an NCAA provisional qualifier.

Loner said the key to his victory was grabbing an early lead.

"I wanted to get out in front, get a lead because on Saturday I got caught up in the pack and bumped around," he said. "I was a little tense when the two Illinois guys went ahead, but I was able to come back and hang on at the end."

Penn State coach Harry Groves was pleased with Loner's effort.

"Joe did a great job and made some nice moves. Had he run on a faster track he would have easily qualified for NCAAs," Groves said. "He got pushed around on Saturday, and I think that opened his eyes to what he had to do in the finals."

The victory was a culmination of Loner's recent domination of the 800. He has gone unbeaten during February and helped anchor the 4x800 championship relay team at the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden.

Loner, who also made up a 10-yard deficit to lead the Lions to a fifth-place finish in the 4x400 relay, said he was happy with his performance because he ran one of the fastest times in his career.

"This is my second fastest time ever, indoors or outdoors, so I feel good about it," Loner said.

Other Nittany Lions who turned in strong performances were Che Arosemena and Sean Vego. Arosemena took fourth in the 3,000-meter run (8:23) and seventh in 5,000-meter run (14:36). Vego also was busy, placing in the long jump, triple jump and high jump.

Although Groves was disappointed with the 10th-place finish, he said his team performed well.

"We had a lot of scorers and a lot of good results," he said. "We just didn't have enough people and couldn't score high enough."

The Badgers, on the other hand, scored plenty. They were once again led by junior sensation Reggie Torian, who took both the 55-meter dash and the 55-meter high hurdles. Torian's time of 7.07 seconds in the hurdles set a Big Ten record.

Torian's double victory was made all the more impressive after he suffered a separated shoulder during Saturday's long jump competition. Torian said he tried his best to forget about his shoulder problems during Sunday's races.

"I told myself not to change my stride because of the shoulder injury," he said. "I think the injury made me stronger. It really made me focus on running and so much of getting better is mental."

Wisconsin is now on the verge of pulling off a triple crown with conference titles in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track for a third straight year.