Beantown bound

Trackwomen head to north for Boston Terrier Classic

After two weeks of team scoring competition, members of the Penn State women's indoor track team get the chance to show their stuff as individuals.

This weekend the Lady Lions travel to Boston to take part in the Boston Terrier Classic. The women will have to wait until Sunday as the men compete all day tomorrow.

This meet will have some top-quality schools competing against each other, so competition should be intense.

"This is a huge meet with high-caliber teams from the East Coast," Penn State senior runner Erica Bosler said. "That should make for a great meet."

Penn State coach Teri Jordan does not only want to use this meet to get her athletes qualifying times for nationals, but she also wants to use it to prepare for the Big Ten Championships in March.

"The Big Ten Championships are about one month away, so this will be good preparation," Jordan said.

This is a great opportunity for the team to prepare for Big Tens because of the level of competition that will participate.

Penn State has won its first two meets this year against teams that have not exactly put up any huge threat. This meet can be a measuring stick to see how far the team has come this year as competition will only improve in the Big Ten.

"This is our first meet with high competition," Bosler said. "We want to use that to help us improve before the Big Ten starts."

If there is any place that could help some of the Lions qualify for NCAAs, it will be at Boston this weekend. Boston's track has curves that are uplifted, so runners can pick up speed on the way down.

The track will not be so kind to the jumpers.

"The pit for the high jump is not in great shape, but I hope that I can just concentrate on doing my best," Penn State senior Carleen Martin said.

The team has decided not compete in the relays this weekend due to the time the relays will begin on Sunday night.

Penn State is coming off an impressive victory last week at the Golden Flash Invitational in Ohio. The team hopes to build on this momentum this weekend and carry it all the way to the Big Ten Championships.