The Penn State men's indoor track and field team finished second for the first time this season in a scored meet this past weekend at home, in the Sykes/Sabock Challenge Cup track meet. But the Nittany Lions weren't disappointed with their placing.

"We went for everything we could get," Penn State men's indoor track and field coach Harry Groves said. "There wasn't one cheap point in this meet."

The Ohio State Buckeyes came first with 136 points, then Penn State (122.83) and third was Central Michigan with 103 in the 11-team event.

Preparation for this meet was hard for the Lions, as some athletes were sick during the week.

"The biggest thing in this meet was getting everyone ready to run," Groves said.

Sophomore Ernie Terrell, who is only starting to find his groove, put on some great performances at the meet, winning the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.26 and coming second in the 400-meter (46.93), an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.

"I just came in planning on running," Terrell said, adding that the way the trainers have been training the Lions was one of the reasons for his performance.

Terrell also ran in the 4-by-400-meter relay, where Penn State finished second (3:10.97). Also running in the race were Penn State co-captain Brian Derby and sophomores Jaret Campisi and Chris Lolagne.

Other first-place finishes for the Lions came from sophomore Matt Lincoln in the 800-meters, posting a time of 1:50.27.

Junior Chavous Nichols made sure that he remained unbeaten in the season in the triple jump with a leap of 51-9, good for first place and an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Nichols said that due to dizziness he was only at 80 percent at the meet.

In the shot put, junior Dan Diaz came in second with a throw of 58-10 and third in the 35-pound weight throw (61-9 Ã}), ahead of freshman Scott Vernon (59-9 Ã}).

Seniors Ian Hahn and Michael Jordan each had second-place finishes, Hahn in the mile with a time of 4:08.50, and Jordan in the 600-meter run (1:19.34).

Overall, the Lions were satisfied with their performances against the best competition they have faced this season.

"As a team I think we had a pretty solid performance," Derby said.

Groves said that he hopes that the Lions picked up a fighting spirit that they would take with them to the Big Ten Championships.