At 6 a.m., most college students are snoring in their beds, dreaming of being far away from the dreary, cold weather of Penn State.

For the Penn State men's track and field team, that's when the day begins.

It's also part of the reason that the Nittany Lions are feeling quite confident as they head into this weekend's Penn State National Indoor Track meet at the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.

"One thing that amazes me that shouldn't is every morning everyone is showing up for our early runs at 6 a.m.," Penn State men's track and field coach Harry Groves said.

The results have been very fruitful for the Lions, as they now have two wins in their two meets at this point in the season.

Attending the meet will be 26 teams, including Georgetown and Pittsburgh, and about 30 unattached athletes. One of those will be Penn State alumnus Ryan Olkowski, who will be competing in the heptathlon as part of the World's Greatest Athletes, a team full of Olympic hopefuls.

The meet is also a non-scoring one.

The Lions will bring with them the mentality they have had all season.

"There is a good, positive attitude and that has to get you some results," Groves said.

The Lions will be counting on juniors Ernie Terrell and Jaret Campisi, their top performers this season, to lead the way. Luckily for Penn State, it has been relatively injury free.

"The people who are healthy are really doing well," Penn State assistant coach Andrew Hardyk said. He also added that the athletes are competing at a high level.

After practicing intensely at the beginning of the week, the Lions have decreased the intensity in recent practice sessions to recuperate for the meet. With the Big Ten Indoor Track Championships fast approaching, another good performance at this meet will be a confidence- and experience-builder for a young Lions squad.

-- By Nkrumah Makinwa