Trackmen claim first victory, coach pleased with progress

The Penn State men's indoor track team shook off the preseason rust this weekend at the West Virginia Collegiate Meet in Morgantown, W.Va.

The Nittany Lions opened their indoor season on the right foot, winning their first meet by scoring 186 points with seven first-place finishes to go along with seven second-place and four third-place finishes.

Coach Harry Groves was happy with the way the team looked in practices after coming back from winter break.

"Most of the team did work over the break," Groves said. "After the first practice there weren't a lot of complaints of being sore."

- Harry Groves, men's indoor track team coach

Senior Joe Loner continued to run strong for the team, winning the 800-meter race with a time of 1-minute, 56 seconds.

"Loner controlled the race from the start," Groves said. "He showed good running and teamwork by pulling wide and letting (teammate Joe) Hubbard get next to him."

Hubbard ended up finishing second behind Loner in the race.

Loner was the lone first-place finisher for the Lions in the Big Ten Championships last February winning the 800-meter race at Iowa.

One key to Loner's success was the way he took advantage of the Greenberg Indoor Sports Complex being open for athlete's for use over winter break.

"I worked out up here during break," Loner said, "so I was in good shape."

The winter break didn't seem to bother sophomore Sean Vago, who won the high jump event with a 6-foot-8 jump.

Vago said the meet record for the high jump was seven feet, and he was trying to break that mark.

"I usually do pretty well after a small break," he said. "I would like to break seven foot in the next meet."

Senior Neal McNutt, fresh off a trip to Orlando, Fla., to play in the Citrus Bowl, where the Penn State football team lost to the Florida Gators 21-6, led the Nittany Lion throwers by winning the 35-pound weight throw with a mark of 58-foot-8.

The weight conditioning program the veteran McNutt has been using for football has kept him in shape for the track season, Groves said.

"He has been throwing in practice," Groves said. "He is right where we thought he would be."

Groves saw positive results out of a number of his freshmen athletes during the meet, including Brad Del Muto, who won the 1,000 meters and Ben Karcz who won the 500 meters.

"They (the freshmen) really stepped it up," Groves said. "When things get more intense later, I hope they can step up then too."

Host West Virginia finished second with 124 points followed by North Carolina A&T, Pittsburgh, Ohio and Robert Morris.

The Lions are now preparing for the Bucknell Hershey Relays held this weekend.

The team will try to improve the two first-place finishes, four seconds and three thirds it produced at the meet last year.