Trackmen play host at President's Invitational

This weekend, THON won't be the only marathon taking place at the University. The President's Invitational, which will be held in the Greenberg Intercollegiate Sports Complex at noon on Saturday, is the only chance to catch up with Nittany Lion track and field at home all season, and it will include some of the nation's best athletes.

"This weekend will be a very laid-back type of meet," assistant coach Andrew Hardyk said. "We're treating it as a preparatory meet for the Big Ten (Championships next weekend), some guys need to rest up, others need to go for some qualifying marks. Hopefully, it will be a real confidence-booster."

"It's held in the Greenberg ISC, which is 10 laps to a mile, so it's not the greatest for the runners," Groves said. "For field events, there's plenty of room, but we don't attract a lot of sprinters who want to get fast times -- it's not a fast track."

But Groves said he expects the new indoor complex, which is planned for construction later this year, to be the fastest track in the nation.

"We'll be getting the top Olympic competitors to pop in here, and that certainly won't hurt us," Groves said, "but the ISC building hasn't been all that bad to us. In some ways, it helps. I mean, you get outta there and go to a better track and it actually improves your times."

The President's Invitational is not a team scored meet, so it is a chance for individuals to attempt to reach the preset time, distance or height required to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Players to watch this weekend from Penn State include George Audu, John Gorham, Neal McNutt, and the sprint medley relay team.

McNutt has taken first place in the 35-pound weight six times in seven meets this season. His one second place finish was at the Princeton/Connecticut Relays, where he surpassed the throw of 62-4 necessary to qualify for the NCAA. Last weekend, Audu also qualified for the NCAA Championships in the long jump. This weekend he will only compete in the triple-jump to attempt a qualifying mark in that event as well.

"George needs to get his triple-jump in order," Hardyk said, "and John Gorham likes to jump at home, so we're keeping him to the long-jump."

Gorham has been jumping well all season, capturing several first-place finishes for the Lions, including a meet- and fieldhouse-record jump of 25 feet at the Bucknell-Hershey Relays. However, he has still not qualified for the event.

The sprint-medley team of Ben Karcz, John Whelan, Duane Reeves and Joe Loner, who broke the 20-year Penn State indoor record for the medley with a time of 3:28.35 earlier this season, will get its first chance to compete together this weekend at home.

Since the event is not team-scored, the coaches are looking for individual work and improvement to prepare for the Big Ten Championships, IC4A Championships and NCAA Championships.

"I'm not looking for anyone in particular to jump up and grab anything," Hardyk said. "We're fine-tuning, and this weekend will be just what we need to get ready for three big weekends of championship meets."