Molly Landreth said she was "scared to death" coming into Saturday's Spiked Shoe Invitational.

For a person who hasn't raced in six months, she didn't look like it. Her race certainly didn't reflect it. And neither did the effort of the Penn State women's cross-country team.

For the second straight year, the Penn State women's cross country team came away with top honors at its annual invitational, posting an overall team score of 23.

And, of little surprise to Penn State fans, Landreth led the way. The senior, who won this event last year, finished first again with a time of 21:26.50.

After taking last spring off to mend a few injuries, Landreth decided to return for a fifth year of eligibility, a decision Penn State will have no discrepancy with.

"I hope not," Landreth said jokingly.

Coincidentally, the Lions' overall score, 23, is the seeding given to them in a poll released by the Women's Cross-Country Coaches Association.

A seed they feel disrespected them.

"By the time we reach the NCAAs, we feel we're a top-15 team," Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "But still, we have a long way to go."

They may have a long way to go, but the Lions surely started off on the right foot.

Penn State had four runners finish among the top six individuals.

LaSalle University, the second-place team, still was 53 points behind the Lions after posting a 76 on the day.

The Lions received a pleasant surprise from one of their veteran runners, Kayla Matrunick, on Saturday.

Matrunick, a senior who hasn't contributed the way she wanted to during the course of her career here at Penn State, said her goal coming into Saturday was to score for her team, something she has not been abel to do in the past.

Not only did Matrunick score for the Lions, she finished second overall.

"When I saw myself in second place, I kept saying I have to hold onto this because I've never been here before," a jubilant Matrunick said.

Matrunick doesn't mind posting her best performance of her career and still coming in second to Landreth.

"She's such an awesome teammate and an inspiration to all of us on the team and to know that she was the one I was chasing is an incredible feeling... it's unreal," Matrunick said.

Even though the Lions have had great success at the Spiked Shoe in years past, they're supposed to win this event.

And they know it.

"We were expecting to win today, especially as defending champs," Alford-Sullivan said.

Alford-Sullivan is coming off an incredible summer in Athens, where she helped coach the U.S. track-and-field team to one of its best Olympics ever.

"It was one of those unique times in your life that you get to not only represent the U.S. but be a part of the most successful track-and-field team."

Alford-Sullivan hopes that the knowledge she has gained in Athens will only add more fuel to the fire that already burns immensely amongst the Lions.