After the low of the Big Ten Championships this past weekend, the Penn State men's track and field team will be looking to redeem itself at the Alex Wilson Invitational this weekend away at South Bend, Ind.

Apart from that, it is the last chance for many of the Nittany Lions to achieve national qualifying marks for the NCAA Championships, which are next weekend in Fayetteville, Ark.

"It is a smaller meet but the competition is a lot better than normal," junior Matt Lincoln said, adding that this meet is much more individualistic compared to the Big Ten Championships, as people are competing for times and not points.

So far this season, Penn State has five NCAA provisional qualifying athletes, including junior Scott Vernon in the 35-pound weight throw, with a toss of 66-02.25 feet.

Vernon has been having a strong season so far, including a runner-up finish at last weekend's Big Ten Championship in his event.

The others include junior Matt Lincoln, who has NCAA provisional times in the 800-meter run (1:49.35), the one-mile run (1:49.35) and the distance-medley relay (9:36.29), which includes senior Jaret Campisi, Chris Foster and junior Dan Michael.

Also looking for a strong performance is the 4x400-meter relay team, consisting of seniors Ernie Terrell, Chris Lolagne, Campisi and junior Steve Morgan.

They have been gaining steam throughout the season leading to the Big Ten Championships, where they came in second.

"I think that once we get in a good race, we can beat anybody," Lolagne said. "If we put all four of our legs together, anything can happen."

Although they won't be competing as a "team," the most critical factor for the Lions is recovering from their subpar performance at the championships.

"It is a bit disappointing but we have pretty much moved past it," Lincoln said.

Many of them feel that this has been an up-and-down season for them, and that has not been because of a lack of talent.

"We have had a lot of people run well but we also have had lots of holes," Lolagne said. "We have the potential but we need to have consistency."

As the NCAA Championships quickly approach, the Lions will need to be forgetful, so that they can forget about past performances and focus on the future. A sign of a strong team is one that rebounds from disappointment to become stronger.

The Lions know that once the gun sounds for the start of this weekend's meet, the past will no longer matter.

"You are entitled to have a bad performance," Lolagne said. "But take it in stride, learn from it and move on."