There were about 200 meters left in the last leg of the distance medley relay at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup this weekend at home. Senior Chris Foster had virtually given up, but then he noticed that the leader of the race was starting to tire.

That slight opening was all Foster needed as he took the lead on the last turn to finish in a time of 9:36.29, an NCAA provisional qualifying time and a new Penn State record.

"That was probably the greatest race I have ever seen," Penn State coach Harry Groves said.

The other members of that relay team were juniors Matt Lincoln, Jaret Campisi and Dan Michael.

Penn State continued its great form and won the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup with 125 points, followed by Central Michigan (115) and Michigan (114).

Last year, Michigan was the overall winner followed by Central Michigan. The Nittany Lions' overall performance was the difference in this meet.

"We could not have won it without a team effort," Groves said, adding that every finish from first to fifth was critical in helping the Lions win the meet.

The Lions had seven first-place finishes, two third places and four fourth-place finishes. Lincoln and Scott Vernon both were first in their respective events and both had NCAA provisional qualifying marks. Lincoln had a time of 1:49.35 in the 800-meter run, and Vernon made his in the 35-pound weight throw (20.17 meters) on his last attempt.

Other strong performers were junior Tyler Fedeli, who finished first in the long jump with a 2.14-meter leap, and freshman Mark Miller in the 600-meter run with a third-place finish of 1:19.11.

"We were hoping to get better marks than before, which we did, and obviously it was brought out by the competition," Penn State assistant coach Andrew Hardyk said.

There were seven NCAA provisional qualifying marks and one NCAA automatic qualifying mark set at the meet. Central Michigan's Johnie Drake had the automatic qualifying mark in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.60 seconds. It was also a new facility record.

From start to the finish, the Lions met the challenge of strong teams in both the track and field events.

"It is as good as you are going to get," Groves said. "The objective is to win and do it as well as you could do it."

They also said that the strong performance by the Lions shows they are on the right track as they approach the most critical phase of the indoor season. Next week is a bye week for the Lions, which made this meet more critical.

"It shows that we can compete all around," Foster said.

Furthermore, Penn State's improved and balanced performance at this meet, compared to last year's team, could mean that it is a stronger team.

"Everyone is involved in what everyone else is doing," Foster said. "We are not an individual-oriented team like last year's team."