In most other sports, by the time the conference championships are decided most of the teams have already faced off, sometimes on multiple occasions.

This will not be the case however, for the Penn State men's cross country team, as it travels to Iowa City for the Big Ten Championships on Sunday.

The Nittany Lions will be getting their first shot at most of the powerful Big Ten teams. The conference boasts the No. 1 team in the nation, Wisconsin, as well as five other nationally-ranked teams, including No. 7 Michigan.

"The competition is great," sophomore Dan Mazzocco said. "For us to get where we need to be, we have to go out and race the best."

The meet will be the last that the Lions will run in preparation for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Meet on Nov. 13. The stiff competition means the Lions must run a great race to compete with the powerhouses in the conference, and most importantly to get to the shape the will need to be in two weeks for NCAA's. Once again the Lions will rely heavily on their top three runners; Mazzocco, along with seniors Chris Foster and Joel Moceri.

Mazzocco had a great race in last year's conference championship in East Lansing, Mich., finishing in fourth place. The feat earned him a first-team All-Big Ten nod. As he slowly progressed throughout this season he is finally getting to where he needs to be -- setting a personal record for the course and finishing second at the Penn State National Invitational on Oct. 16. At last he has reached a point where he is confident in his ability to repeat last year's performance at the Big Ten meet.

"Right now I'm physically ready, but I have to be mentally ready," he said. "I already believe in all the hard work I've done, but now I have to believe in my ability."

While Foster was not one of the team's top runners at last year's Big Ten meet, the Lions could benefit from his standout season. He has been the leader for the team in each meet up to the Penn State Invitational, when he was finally beaten out by Mazzocco.

"Chris made a big jump this season -- but you can't go from last year to year on how a guy will perform," Penn State men's cross country coach Harry Groves said of his senior.

Mazzocco said, while the goal may be a lofty one, that there is a chance, with the emergence of Foster and a good race from Moceri, that the top three Penn State runners could possibly crack the top 20.

"It would be very difficult for any team to do that -- but it could take a lot of pressure off our other guys," Mazzocco said.

If the Lions can accomplish such a race, it can be a great sign of things to come for a team that needs to be at its best for the NCAA regional meet.