A slow start Saturday at the Penn State, Connecticut and Princeton Triangular meet in the Multi-Sports Complex meant that the Penn State men's indoor track team was upset in a couple events early.
After the initial shock, the Nittany Lions recovered, roared back to life, took the lead and never surrendered it the rest of the way.
"We needed something to kick start all our engines," sophomore Chris Lolagne said.
Penn State finished first with 142 points, defeating both UConn and Princeton, who each tallied 104 points.
The scoring format for the meet was in the individual events. First place was worth seven points, second five and third four. Team members could accumulate points all the way down to the sixth spot in each event. For the relays, first place was worth seven points, while second was worth five. The third-place team did not score. Junior Dan Diaz grabbed first place for the Lions in the shot put, with a throw of 58-3 Ã~, an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
"I could have done a lot better," Diaz said, adding that he was at 75-80 percent at the meet due to neck problems.
Other records from Penn State came from sophomore Ernie Terrell, who won first-place in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.83 seconds, a meet record. He also won the 200-meter dash.
Sophomore Matt Lincoln also set a Penn State, facility and meet record with a time of 2:22.50 in the 1,000-meter dash.
Senior Chavous Nichols won the triple jump with a meet-record leap of 50-10 Ã| and stayed unbeaten in the event this season. He also won the long jump (23-5 Ã|) and finished second in the high jump with a height of 6-foot-7-inches.
Freshman Scott Vernon claimed first place in the 35-pound weight throw (61-03.5), ahead of the best thrower in the East, Josh McCaughey of Princeton.
Overall, the Lions had 12 first-place finishes, five second-place finishes and five third-place finishes.
"I expect a lot better at the Big Tens," Diaz said. "I think that the better competition we have, the better we perform."
But the Lions also felt the meet gave them something to think about.
"Whenever we race, we are always trying to tweak something in our system," Lolagne said. "This meet showed us where we need to pick up."
The margin of victory might have been a little deceiving, as the scores throughout the meet were much closer than the Lions had originally expected.
"We were ahead but there were times it was definitely close," Penn State men's track and field coach Harry Groves said.
Even with the Big Ten Championships a couple of weeks away and Penn State still unbeaten in scored meets this season, the Lions seem to be peaking at just about the right time.
