T-minus 58 days to the Big Ten Women's Track and Field Championship held at Ohio State University.

Even though the Penn State women's track and field team has just started practicing for the outdoor season, Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan already has set her team's sights on the conference meet. After finishing an unexpected fourth at the Big Ten Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship, Alford-Sullivan is confident that her team will be an improved version heading into the outdoor Big Ten meet.

She said that the improvement will be the result of the added events in the outdoor season, such as the discus, javelin, 4x100-meter relay, 400-meter hurdles and 10,000-meter run.

"The events that we add, we have some strength and depth in," Alford-Sullivan said. "We're excited about it. It makes our team much stronger."

Specifically, the return of senior distance runner Molly Landreth, who redshirted during the indoor season, will provide a much-needed boost to an area in which the Nittany Lions struggled mightily.

At the Big Ten meet held last month, Penn State failed to score any points in the distance events. Landreth is in an NCAA qualifier in the 10,000-meter run and a 2003 All-American in the steeplechase.

Having Landreth back on the track will add some veteran leadership as well as take some pressure off of junior Tracey Brauksieck.

"Molly's been a big factor in our program," Alford-Sullivan said. "We're looking to line her back up. It'll be great."

Looking at the throws, Penn State's already solid group of throwers will be bolstered by the addition of senior Ashley Colley in the javelin, an event in which she earned 2003 All-America honors. The Lions also are looking to see some significant points from junior Christen Clemson in the discus. Last year, Clemson placed second in the event at the Big Ten meet.

Senior throws captain Kate Johnston and junior Jennifer Leatherman, both indoor NCAA qualifiers, will again provide strong leadership in the throws as both are expected to have outstanding outdoor seasons in the hammer throw.

Not all of Penn State's main contributors will be upperclassmen, though. During the indoor season, freshmen Dominique Blake, Gayle Hunter and Shana Cox, and sophomore Kamilah Salaam paced Penn State's sprints corps.

Alford-Sullivan said that she expects her young athletes to continue to impact the team during the outdoor season.

"Our freshmen have been a key factor in the quality of this team and the quality of the program," Alford-Sullivan said. "We recruited them with that premise that they would come in here and make a big difference, and to see them pulling that off is really exciting."

Even after Cox and Hunter had an off day at the NCAA meet, Alford-Sullivan said said she was impressed with how well the two handled themselves and believes that they will be just fine in the outdoor season.

While the freshmen should provide an interesting future, the team will presently rely heavily on the veteran leadership of Johnston and sprints captain Brooke Robinson, both seniors. Each will look to have an outstanding final run with the Nittany Lions.

"They stepped up and had an indoor season that was their best on their record," Alford-Sullivan said. "That momentum will carry over to the outdoor [season]."

And Penn State needs all the momentum it can get right now. After all, the countdown has already started.