In the past, the Lady Lions have turned in shaky performances at the Big Ten meet, in which they will begin competition Saturday at Michigan State. Their highest placing was achieved last year when the team finished third. It was a respectable number, but not good enough for Penn State.

"We never really put it together in past years," senior tri-captain Ellen Casey said.

Especially last year.

At the 1998 meet, the Lions were in the lead going into the final rotation, where they had to perform on the vault. It was there that the Lions saw the championship slip away.

"Good things did happen but we ended on our weakest event last year, which was the vault," junior Heather Duggan said.

After coming so close, the Lions are going to great lengths to ensure that the championship will not be lost this year. The senior tri-captains have made winning the championship a major focus of the season.

Senior tri-captain Janae Whittaker said winning the title was never a realistic possibility until this year. In fact, this is a common sentiment among the upperclassmen. The juniors and seniors have had tough years at past Big Ten meets and they now believe this is the year when everything can fall into place.

"This would probably be the highest point in my career," junior Nikki Smith said of the possibility of winning the championship.

Despite the high expectations, the Lions are trying not to let nerves get the best of them. The upperclassmen are using their experience and leadership to keep things in perspective for their less-experienced teammates. Senior tri-captain Missy Leopoldus said the strategy for this meet is to take it one event at a time.

But that could be a very hard thing to do. Because the team has been working toward the championship for so long, it would be easy for excitement and anticipation to get the best of it.

"We try to put it out of our minds and take things one step at a time, but it is always lingering," Duggan said.

The Lions are taking the necessary steps in practice to be fully prepared for Saturday's meet. At times, practice has been very grueling and could be very disheartening if not for the importance of the goal the team hopes to achieve.

"We're not accepting little mistakes because every 10th of a point counts at Big Tens," Whittaker said. "We think that the meet will come down to 10ths of a point."

These fractions of a point could mean the difference between heartbreak and triumph for the Lions. Even though there are more meets after Saturday, the Big Ten Championships are one of the most meaningful of the season.

Said Leopoldus: "We want to win Big Tens because it would be great for the program and really fire us up."