When you run cross country, you expect to trek through long, hard days. When you're facing the top runners in the nation, including No. 1 and No. 7, you're climbing a mountain.

When the Penn State men's cross country team flew to the University of Iowa in preparation for the Big Ten Championships yesterday, the Nittany Lions knew it was going to be difficult, but finishing ninth out of 10 teams is not what they had in mind.

No. 1 Wisconsin breezed through the competition, with five runners finishing in the top 11. Penn State's sophomore Dan Mazzocco was the first Lion to place, finishing 20th. Senior Chris Foster came in 11 seconds later with a time of 25:01. Moceri was next, in 48th.

As the Lions prepared to fly back yesterday, the team was upset and angry for multiple reasons.

First, this puts Penn State in a bind. With the poor finish, it failed to gain any points on out-of-region opponents. This means that Penn State will have to place first or second when it hosts the Mid-Atlantic Regional in two weeks if the Lions want to send anyone to Nationals.

"The Regional is do or die," Mazzocco said.

Getting it done is going to be difficult. With powerhouses LaSalle University, Princeton University, and teams that have been beating Penn State all year, the Lions need to take them all out in one race.

Although it will be a home race, the home-course advantage may be insignificant. Penn State coach Harry Groves said that the team doesn't practice the course as much. Also, the Lions have already hosted two events here this season, so each team has had multiple cracks at the terrain.

There is a degree of frustration. With intense workouts geared toward this point in the season, the mental preparation did not equal that of the physical workload, at least for Mazzocco.

"I tried convincing myself that I was mentally prepared but I wasn't," Mazzoco said. "There were other things going on related to running...not to many any excuses."

Mazzocco finished fourth at last year's Big Tens, held in E. Lansing, MI.

"There's no point in putting yourself through those workouts if you're not going to go out there and race," Mazzocco said.

The Regional will be held Nov. 13 at Penn State but the Lions will have to rebound from Sunday' race.

"We have ork to do and we have to do it," Mazzocco said. "No one's happy."