This past weekend, I spent my time monitoring the Penn State women's indoor track and field team competing at the Big Ten Championships, as well as working on an English paper in which I had to define a word in a new and different way. . Sometime around 3:30 a.m. on Monday, the two topics crossed. I thought to myself, even though Penn State had fallen short of clinching its second consecutive Big Ten title, maybe the Nittany Lions were still champions, albeit a different type of champion.

The thought occurred to me that maybe the definition of a "champion" is not the team that brings home the hardware, but rather a team that can expect a championship, fall short, but still carries itself like a champion.

And that's exactly what the Lions have done all season, even after losing their Big Ten title to Michigan.

The athletes and coaches on this particular team represent all that is great in sports.

They encourage each other, they leave everything on the track after competition, they can win graciously and they can still hold their heads
high after suffering a loss as disappointing as this weekend's setback.

Talking to Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan after the conference meet, I asked her if she still believed that her team was one of the best in the Big Ten Conference.

Her reply: "You damn well better believe we are."

And you damn well better believe that her team feels the same.

It's that competitive nature and that heart that make this team so great to watch. Every meet the women of Penn State track and field give it all they've got, and still strive to improve the next week.

If you want to see the competitive side, watch junior thrower Jennifer Leatherman, for example. She may be one of the only athletes who can sweep the throwing events and still be not be satisfied. To her, winning the weight throw and shot put is nothing if she didn't throw the distance she thought she should have. That's what makes her so fun to watch.