Penn State men's track coach Harry Groves expected this weekend's meet with Princeton and Connecticut to be a close one, based on years past.

He was half right.

The meet was a tight one for Penn State and Princeton, who ended the weekend with 112.5 and 112 points, respectively. Connecticut, however, forged ahead of the two teams to win the meet with a score of 136.5.

All three teams were affected by some illnesses and injuries in the meet, but Groves said it made for good competition and gave all the athletes a chance to contribute to the point total, while allowing Penn State the opportunity to go up against an experienced team like Connecticut.

"It was a great collegiate rivalry and that's what sports should be about," Groves said. "Connecticut seemed to have the depth and we didn't. They were unusually sharp and that made the difference. We got beat, and that will happen in the league we're in."

Penn State won four events, including the 4x800-meter relay held on Friday night in Madison Square Garden as part of the Millrose Games. The team ran a time of 7:43.69. Losing more than 13 seconds from last week's time, the 4x400 team came away with a second-place time of 3:25.59.

Ernie Terrell had another big day for Penn State on Saturday, winning the 200-meter dash in a time of 22.17. He also picked up points for second place in both the 60- and the 400-meter dash. Penn State's Alex Langan tied Terrell with a time of 7.04 in the 60-meter dash.

Groves was impressed with Terrell's ability to run back-to-back races with little time in between to catch his breath.

"Ernie ran to get points and got that accomplished," he said. "There's always a problem running races back-to-back. The timing puts a damper on winning."

Jaret Campisi won the 400 with a time of 48.53, while also surprising the team with a good showing in the hurdles before hitting one to lose the lead. Tim Walker brought Penn State its final first place of the day with a time of 2:28.23 in the 1,000-meter run.

Off the track, the men's field team saw good performances from David Bollinger, who tied for second in the pole vault with a height of 15-feet-9-inches, as well as a second- and third-place win from Aaron Ross and Scott Vernon in the 35-pound weight throw.

Groves said he was happy with the overall performance of his team.

"When it comes down to it, half a point is as good as a mile," he said. "Thank God for that half point. It's always nicer to be second than third."