The transformation of any program from regional competitor to national contender isn't going to come overnight. In the case of the Penn State women's track team and head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan, step number one was to win a Big Ten Championship.

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Step number two: amp up the level of competition. This year, instead of competing in the annual University of Connecticut and Princeton tri-meet, Penn State skipped out on its usual running mates and headed to New York to take part in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational, a national competition.

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"We're always upgrading," Alford-Sullivan said. "You always want to see how you stack up against the big dogs."

But last weekend, Penn State didn't look as good as it would have hoped against track powers such as Louisiana State, Stanford and South Carolina. In the 4x400-meter relay, Penn State came in fourth place behind all three of these top 10 schools. LSU, the consensus No. 2 team in the nation, finished with a time of 3:31.92. Penn State on the other hand, was almost a full 18 seconds behind with a time of 3:49.90.

Even with this in mind, Alford-Sullivan is not discouraged. She would rather see her team compete in a higher level of competition and struggle a little bit than stay in a cozy situation against lesser competition. She also thinks that her team did some uncharacteristically careless things, and that the team's output wasn't its best. Being on the road for the first time this season was a factor.

"We just made some errors," Alford-Sullivan said. "We're a young team."

The Nittany Lions are on their way to improvement. Many of the key runners on the squad are either freshmen or sophomores. The 4x400 relay team was freshmen Gayle Hunter, Dominique Blake and Shana Cox, who teamed up with sophomore Kamilah Salaam. Every competition on a national stage is a necessity for the maturing process of Penn State's young athletes.

"[It] was an opportunity to say, 'We're comfortable in their house, to go on the road and step up,' " Alford-Sullivan said.

While the Lions didn't give their best performance, the team is anxious to continue the season and get ready for more of the premier teams across the nation. This upcoming weekend, Penn State will compete in the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup, with Big Ten rival Michigan in attendance.

"There are a few things we have to clean up," Alford-Sullivan said.

Michigan is ranked as the No. 7 team in the nation. As for trying to keep the competitive level high ... check.