Men's cross country coach Harry Groves talks longingly of those old dual meets.

He wants his runners to know what a rivalry feels like.

"They teach you to run," he said. "It puts more pressure on the runner because he knows that he has to beat the guy in front of him."

On Saturday morning at the Penn State Blue Course, Groves basically got his wish.

The 32nd annual Penn State Open featured just three collegiate level teams, as St. Francis and Loyola were the only teams to make the trip to Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions knew to concentrate on regional rival St. Francis and not overlook the veteran squad.

"That team is running with a sense of urgency right now," Nittany Lions senior Chris McGinness said. "They came here to beat us. We had to show them that they can't run with us."

Said captain Bradd DelMuto, "I'd be disappointed if we didn't beat them."

The Nittany Lions, with McGinness leading the way, didn't disappoint. Penn State had eight of the top 12 runners in the event and captured first place by 13 points. They won the William Pritchard Memorial trophy, named for the former professor of mathematics and assistant cross country coach.

"We stuck to our plan," said Groves. "We wanted to stay near the front and run hard in the last three miles. We wanted to be tougher at the end of the race."

McGinness waged a battle with Brian Sell of St. Francis for first place. Sell was 50 feet ahead of McGinness after three miles, but McGinness battled back to take the lead coming down the stretch.

McGinness heard footsteps though, and after several backward glances, Sell overtook him in the last few feet of the race. Those checks over his shoulder cost McGinness the win, said Groves.

"This week we're going to practice playing poker," he said. "These guys need to learn how to bluff. Chris was looking over his shoulder and that gave the St. Francis runner energy to catch up to him."

"I've got to hand it to him," said McGinness. "He had more left in the tank. He wanted it more."

McGinness finished in 25:53, followed by Josh Brashears (26:13) in third, DelMuto (26:18) in fifth, Steve Walsh (26:24) in sixth and Jim Carney (26:24) in seventh.

The Nittany Lions' victory came after a disappointing performance at the Griak Invitational. The team wasn't ready for the sheer number of runners and was boxed out early.

"We misjudged our starting position and didn't get where we needed to be," McGinness said. "That won't happen again. We've learned from it."

The Nittany Lions runners will try to use Saturday's victory as a stepping stone.

"We did what we set out to do," said McGinness. "We got the job done and we're happy with that. We still have a lot of work to do though."

"We want to take some confidence out of this win," Walsh said. "A first-place finish gives you that confidence, that mental edge. That's what we need."