This is what indoor track and field is all about. Great teams with great athletes competing on one of the best indoor track fields in the country. This is what the Penn State's men's track and field team will have at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup that starts today and ends tomorrow. Great teams that will be participating include four teams that are ranked in the USTCA Team Power Rankings. Among those teams are No. 2 Michigan, No. 13 Cornell and No. 18 Ohio State. Rounding out the group are the Nittany Lions, who are ranked 10th.

"There is some real quality off the bat," Penn State men's track and field coach Harry Groves said. "Every team is loaded."

Star athletes like the Buckeyes' Dan Taylor, who is ranked 1st in the nation after breaking the American collegiate weight throw record last week with an effort of 76-feet-six inches, will be competing. In the 60-meter dash, Johnny Drake of Central Michigan, who has the run the event in 6.54 seconds (best in the nation), will be going up against the Lions Ernie Terrell.

Including this meet, the next four weeks will be very critical for the Lions, as they have a two-week break before the Big Ten indoor championships after this meet.

"It is a step up," Groves said. "It is a step on the way [to the Big Ten Indoor Championships]."

Preparation for this meet has been easy for the Lions. The athletes know that if they come in with anything less than their best, they will be left in the dust.

"Anyone who has trouble getting ready for this meet has no soul," Groves said.

With it being the last indoor track meet of the season, winning the meet would not only be a great victory, but also a memorable one.

-- By Nkrumah Makinwa