With the upcoming Big Ten Championships in mind, the Penn State women's outdoor track team will get in some early practice against some conference rivals this weekend.

The non-scoring invitational meet will feature some tough competition in host school Ohio State, Michigan State and defending indoor champion Michigan.

Competing against Big Ten schools could help give the Nittany Lions a preview of what they will be up against at the conference championships in two weeks.

The Jesse Owens Invite is an annual meet that should draw well more than 1,000 athletes from 32 schools, marking one of the biggest fields in the event's 18-year history.

"This year's event is very special, especially with teams competing that will be in Columbus for the NCAA [Mideast] Regionals," Ohio State track and field coach Russ Rogers said.

"This should be the biggest event we have seen yet."

The meet will also mark another chance for the Lions to send a full Big Ten-regulated compliment of 32 athletes to a meet.

"One of our goals this weekend is to build a team atmosphere before Big Tens," Penn State women's track and field coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said.

"It will be good to pull the team together like this before everything goes crazy with finals."

The Lions will use this meet and next weekend's U.S. Track Coaches Association series meet to prepare for the conference, regional and national championships that will soon follow.

-- By Derek Levarse