A successful cross country season should mirror a successful race--most importantly concluding with a strong finish.

The Penn State men's cross country team is starting to reach that finishing kick it will need to make the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., just over one month away.

"It's [the season] developing pretty well," Penn State men's cross country coach Harry Groves said of the teams progress to this point. "But we're miles away from regionals right now."

Last Saturday the Lions finished third at the Penn State Invitational, the team's best showing of the season. With sophomore Dan Mazzocco finally taking the top spot for the team, the Lions seem poised for a great finish to their season, with the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional meet left on the schedule.

"It's where I hoped to be," Mazzocco said. "My main goal, even if I didn't win a race yet, is to get up to the point where I feel I'm in shape to--that's a big confidence boost."

Mazzocco, last year's best runner and a qualifier for the national meet, had been slow out of the gates so far this season, never being able to beat out senior Chris Foster. Last weekend's meet saw Mazzocco finishing out the race strong, capturing second, as Foster also cracked the top 10, at seventh.

"When I saw him [Mazzocco] go by me, usually you think I'm not going to be able to keep up," Foster said. "But I was really thinking thank god, he's finally back to his old shape."

Along with senior Joel Moceri, who came in 12th on Saturday, the Lions have a very strong top three runners.

If there is one thing the Lions need to get worked out at this point it is the gap between their top three runners and the fourth and fifth scorers. Groves said that tightening this gap would not happen overnight, but it would take a lot of hard work and mental toughness for some of the young runners to close that gap.

"It's a real mental battle--you have to beat your mind to be able to do things you can't, or shouldn't be able to do," Groves said.

"These younger guys know what they have to do, now they have to figure out how to do it."

Foster was able to put in perspective of how if he improves by 10 or 15 seconds than he can catch three or four runners, but if the younger runners can improve by that much they can move up 10 or 15 spots.

If the Lions are able to make these improvements, their best shot to clinch a berth to the NCAAs will come on Nov. 13, at home again on the Penn State Golf Courses for the NCAA regional meet.

With two races at home already under their belts, the Lions will look to capitalize not only on the home course advantage but in the increased distance, from an 8 kilometer-race up to a 10K.

Foster said all of their workouts have been geared to a 10K race, unlike some teams that train for the shorter races earlier in the season.

"We want to be 10K runners--not 8K runners," he said.

Whether the home course advantage and longer distance will pay off is yet to be determined, but the Lions seem to be ready peak at the right time, coming down the home stretch, with the finish in sight.

"We're doing some things to get to where we need to be," Mazzocco said. "If we get there, we have as good a chance as team to make nationals."