"I know Michigan and Ohio State had some scorers that they didn't use," she said. "But, I mean, so did we."
Michigan really only showed signs of life in their distance events. Superstars Katie Erdman and Lindsay Gallo took first in both the 600- and 3,000-meters, respectively. Erdman's win in the 600-meters broke the previous facility record and second place finisher, freshman Briene Simmons, broke the Penn State record in a close finish.
As disappointing as the Wolverines were this weekend, the Nittany Lions turned in one of their best performances of the season at the right time.
Senior Connie Moore was something else in the final home meet of her indoor collegiate career.
On Friday night in the 60-meter finals, Moore turned a bad start into a decent first place finish time.
Saturday was also something special for Moore. Her parents drove all the way from Chicago to see their daughter, and she didn't disappoint.
"She called me up and said, 'Dad its my last [home indoor] meet, please come on down,' " her father Jeff said.
In the 200-meters Connie Moore turned in another incredible performance.
Coming down the home stretch, her parents jumped up from their front row seats. After taking a special standing ovation, a teary-eyed Moore reached into the stands to hug her crying mother and kiss a very proud father.
She still wasn't done.
In the final event, the 4x400-meters, Penn State trailed Pittsburgh because of a botched hand-off. Moore took the baton and nearly caught the Panthers' anchor but came up short in the closest finish of the meet.
"That race was the epitome of track and field right there," Moore said. "That was track and field. Its not fun when one team has a spread out lead. I mean, it came down to [the wire], we were battling. She was holding me off and I kept trying to pass her. We ended up breaking the school record. You can't be upset after that."
After the race, Jeff Moore was talking with a few Nittany Lions football players in attendance at the meet.
"I was excited, man," he said. "That was a crazy race. Connie always puts on a show."
Seniors Chi Chi Aduba and Sara Dougherty capped off the strong showing from Nittany Lions upperclassmen, respectively winning the triple jump and pole vault.
"We're definitely excited to go into [the Big Ten Championship] with a win, especially against Michigan and Ohio State," Dougherty said. "They are our biggest competition and we've never won this meet before, we've never beaten Michigan and Ohio State in this meet before."
The weekend win gives the Lions huge momentum for the Big Ten Championships, which are only two weeks away.
"There's a lot of momentum going in now, but its also a pressure situation because now we're targets," Moore said. "Its like we have a big 'X' on our backs and people are coming after us."
Alford-Sullivan is confident that the team will be able to use this win as a major boost to some role players. When those role players turn in victories, a Big Ten Championship may be in this team's future.
