Penn State women's track and field coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said before the indoor season that one of her main goals was to finish in the top five at the Big Ten Championships. After three weeks of competition by her squad and some record-breaking performances by some Big Ten rivals, she is just as confident that it can still reach that goal.

"We're still focused on cracking the top five this year," Alford-Sullivan said. "The Big Ten is always challenging, and there are always great competitors. Illinois, Indiana, and definitely Michigan should be some of the top teams we face."

If the Nittany Lions want to improve on their seventh-place finish at last year's conference championships, they'll need to get past some tough competition.

Indiana

The Hoosiers are quite possibly the most balanced team in the Big Ten and are thought by many to be the favorites to win the conference. Indiana is the top ranked team in the Big Ten, rated No. 8 in the country by Trackwire. The team is led by senior hurdler/sprinter Danielle Carruthers, who has already automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships by running under eight seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.

"I'm starting to realize that I have to take my opportunity," Carruthers said. "I have to run as if it was almost ... my last time. I'm only going to get one shot; it's the NCAA and Big Ten Championships."

Carruthers and the Hoosiers have already proven their skill against Big Ten opponents, winning the past two weekends at Purdue and Illinois. The defeat of the nationally ranked Illini featured seven first-place finishes, spurring Indiana to a 20-point victory. The Hoosiers host the Big Ten Championships in Bloomington this year on March 1, possibly giving them a slight advantage.

Illinois

Illinois is the only other Big Team that is ranked in the Trackwire 25, coming in at No. 11. The Illini have two of the most outstanding individual athletes in the country in seniors Perdita Felicien and Nicole Whitman.

Felicien's list of accolades reads like a novel. She is the defending national champion in the 60-meter hurdles, an honor she earned by running an NCAA-record time of 7.90 last year. Felicien went undefeated in last year's indoor hurdles, winning every event while shattering facility, Big Ten, and national records as she went.

Whitman is coming off an incredible weekend in which she broke a seven-year-old Big Ten and university triple-jump record with a mark of 42-4. That mark is currently tops in NCAA competition and ninth in the world this year.

The Illini women credit much of their success to head coach Gary Winckler, who has been at the helm for the past 18 years.

"Gary is such a great coach," Felicien said. "It's easy to have natural talent but unless you have someone to help you nurture it and take you to the next level, then natural talent can only go so far."

Michigan

The Wolverines are the defending women's Big Ten indoor champions and are eager for the opportunity to repeat this year. Michigan has good reason to be optimistic about its chances -- the Wolverines have already defeated Indiana by 36 points at this year's Michigan Quadrangular.

Michigan has received top performances from its distance runners. In their meets so far, the Wolverines have racked up most of their points in distances between the 400-meter and 3,000-meter runs.

This could prove tough for the Lions, who have struggled in some mid-distance races this year.

Wisconsin

Like Michigan, the Badgers are a team that specializes mainly in distance events. While Wisconsin has no athletes that have posted top-20 Big Ten times in shorter events such as the 60- and 200-meter dashes, the Badgers are strongly represented in distances above 600 meters. Their strength is most evident in the distance medley relay, where their time of 11:19.34 is best in the Big Ten.

Hillary Edmondson is the current Big Ten leader in both the 3,000-meter run and the mile. Wisconsin's Liz Reusser also is the Big Ten leader in the 5,000-meter. Her time of 16:39.78 is nearly 20 seconds ahead of Penn State sophomore Molly Landreth, who holds second place.

Minnesota

While not having the most dominating team overall, the Golden Gophers have set some impressive marks in field events this season. Minnesota is led by senior sprinter/jumper Shani Marks, who is the only Big Ten athlete this season to surpass Penn State star Chi Chi Aduba.

In addition, the Gophers hold the best conference mark in the shot put and have had two of the top three times in the 4-by-400-meter relay.