On its home track, the Penn State women's indoor track team opened up its season with a statement, serving notice that they will be a team to be reckoned with in the Big Ten this season.

The Nittany Lions took first place at the U.S. Coaches Association Series Meet with a 181.50 points, crushing the other 15 teams at the Multi-Sport Indoor Facility. Second- place Cornell posted a 97.50 point result, finishing a staggering 84 points behind the Penn State squad.

Senior Connie Moore turned in the most impressive performance of the meet taking first in both the 60- and 200-meter dashes.

Moore entered the meet battling flu symptoms that had been bothering her since earlier in the week, but still managed to post an NCAA qualifying time of 23.79 seconds in the 200-meter dash.

Fatigue and the flu took its toll on Moore during the meet as she was unable to compete in the 4x400-meter relay.

"I really just wanted to come out and execute [Saturday] no matter what's going on, the result is the result," said the senior after the meet. "We really put on a show [Saturday], and it's all leading up to our goal of hanging up that [Big Ten Championship] banner over the track."

Two other Nittany Lions put up NCAA qualifying marks at the day long event. Ja'Nai O'Connor won the shot put with a personal indoor record of 51-9 1/4 meters, and Chi Chi Aduba finished in first place in the triple jump with a jump of 42-1 1/2 meters.

Penn State women's track assistant coach Dayna Holston was especially pleased with O'Connor's performance on Saturday.

"She's been really on in practice and things are really starting to come together," Holston said.

The Nittany Lions impressive showing against the 15 visiting teams was capped by outstanding performances from its highly touted freshman class.

Arguably the most talented recruiting class in recent Penn State history, six different freshmen combined to contribute 34 team points.

Kamilah Salaam lead the freshmen with 13 points by finishing second in the 60-meter hurdles and anchoring the 4x400-meter relay, filling in for an ill Moore.

Freshman Briene Simmons won the first race of her college career in the 800 meters with the quick time of 2:12:34.

The giddy Georgia native was all smiles after her first victory of what should be a storied Penn State career.

Penn State women's track coach Beth Alford-Sullivan was very impressed by Simmons' strong showing.

"She showed great composure out there, it's a great start," she said.

Alford-Sullivan indicated the team would be working particularly hard this week, and are excited about next weekend's Army Invite at West Point, NY.