Breaking two schools records in your first meet is a nice way to announce the start of your season. It is the kind of fast start that any team would love to have, especially in one of the toughest conferences in the nation, the Big Ten. For the Penn State men's indoor track and field team, that is exactly what happened at the Penn State Relays last weekend, when it broke two school records. The records came in the 4 x 200 meter relay, where the Nittany Lions posted a time of 1:26.24 seconds and the 1,600-sprint medley with a time of 3:23.74 seconds.

This weekend at the Penn State National Open at home, the Lions will face a much tougher field, as there will be 60 teams competing, including strong track teams such as Tennessee, Georgetown and Villanova. Because of the number of possible participants in the events, a limited number of athletes were allowed to participate based on their times so far this season.

"This meet is a big step up," Penn State coach Harry Groves said. "You are competing against the field."

The Open is much more individual-oriented, in that the athletes' focus is on improving their times in their respective events. In addition, unlike the Penn State Relays, this meet will be following a non-scoring format.

Nevertheless, the significance of the team's performance will be important as it continues its buildup to peak at the Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championships.

"We are trying to put it together for the end of the season," junior Matt Lincoln said. He added that the Lions are looking for consistent performances.

The Lions will be counting on their strong senior class, which features stars such as Ernie Terrell and Jaret Campisi on the track side and, on the field side, Aaron Ross and Dave Bollinger. Last year, Bollinger was a runner-up in the Big Ten Championships in the pole vault.

"We are waiting to see how balanced a team we are," Groves said, adding that the Big Ten has traditionally been the toughest conference in the nation.

This meet also gives the freshmen an opportunity to get a taste of how competitive collegiate athletics is. It will also show how much depth the Lions have. From the top to the bottom, the Big Ten features top-notch teams that, on any given Saturday, could be the best team in the country.

"If you are winning a lot, you are either in a lousy conference, or you are just good," Groves said.