The Purdue Boilermakers provided a home for last year's Women's Indoor Track and Field Big Ten Championship and ended up taking home the crown.

This weekend, Penn State hopes their role as host to this year's championship will result in the same success.

After finishing sixth in the conference last year and bolting to a 3-1 record this season, the Lions have high hopes that they can climb the ladder and improve their Big Ten standing.

One advantage the Lions are counting on is a friendly home crowd at the Ashenfelter Track on campus. The facility is widely considered to be one of the best in the world featuring the only banked track in the Big Ten and polyurethane surfaces on the running lanes. The meet will begin at 9 in the morning on Saturday and last until 5:20, then will resume Sunday at 10 a.m. and culminate with the awards presentation at 3:50. Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for students/seniors/youths. Nine other Big Ten teams will be represented at the meet, the only school not making the trip is Northwestern who does not field a track team.

Two weeks ago at the Sykes/Sabok Challenge, Big Ten foes Indiana, Michigan and Michigan St. competed against the Nittany Lions with Penn State finishing third behind the Hoosiers and Wolverines.

"That meet was a big wake up call for a lot of people because Big Ten competition is unlike any other competition," co-captain Laurie Fox said.

Before the season, head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said she hoped her team could fight for a top five finish in the Big Ten. Based on their performance thus far, the team has put themselves in good position to achieve that goal. Freshman Maureen Thomas feels the team will be ready to compete come Saturday.

"I think we've done everything we needed to do," she said. "Mentally and physically I think we are really prepared as a team, and we have a lot of incentive and motivation around us."

Perhaps the most exciting events of the day to watch will be the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. For the Nittany Lions Connie Moore will look to knock off last year's second place finisher Rachelle Boone of Indiana in the 60-meter dash. Two weeks ago, Boone edged out Moore by six hundredths of a second in a race at the Sykes/Sabok Challenge at Penn State.

Minnesota's Tahesia Harrigan will also challenge for the title as she has posted the second fastest 60-meter dash time in the conference this year. In the 60-meter hurdles, the story is clearly Hoosier Danielle Carruthers. Her time of 7.92 seconds is the fastest ever for a collegiate hurdler and ranks fourth fastest in the world this year.

However close on her heels will be Perdita Felicien of Illinois, ranked number one hurdler in America by trackwire.com. Felicien is a returning NCAA indoor All-American and her time of 7.99 seconds, is behind only Carruthers' among all runners in the nation.

One of the strongest parts of Penn State's team this year has been their throwers, but they will be strongly tested this weekend. Ja'Nai O'Conner and Kate Johnston have both enjoyed standout seasons for the Lions, but must have some of their best days at the Championships if they are to earn victories. Johnston will look to catch defending champion Katy Craig of Ohio State in her first ever Big Ten Championship. O'Conner will have to contend with the Michigan duo of April Phillips and Melissa Bickett who edged out O'Conner in the shotput the last time they met. But O'Conner is going to get caught up in thinking about the competition, but rather concentrate on getting the job done.

"I can't concern myself with the competition this weekend, it's up to me," O'Conner said.

In jumping competitions this weekend, Chi-Chi Aduba will be looking to improve on her third place finish at last year's championships for the blue and white. In her way is Minnesota's Shani Marks who posted the second best jump in the Big Ten this year. Penn State's high jumper Jen Aylward is focused on improving her runner-up finish last year but will have to out-leap Tami Smith of Ohio State who holds the highest mark in the conference this year.

In order for the Lions to succeed this weekend in earning a top five finish, they are going to need good performances in all events. Not to be overlooked, is the importance of fighting for the last place points that could prove detrimental when the totals are calculated.

"We are a team that is well balanced. So we are looking to draw upon our resources across the board," coach Alford-Sullivan said.