The Penn State men's outdoor track team will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., for the Big Ten/SEC Challenge tomorrow and Sunday. In the second meet of its outdoor season, the team will face its toughest competition.
In a challenge meet, like the one this weekend, three teams from each conference will compete as a team to outscore the other conference. Penn State, Wisconsin and Minnesota will represent the Big Ten. Tennessee, Kentucky and South Carolina will be competing for the SEC. The Big Ten brings the only nationally ranked team to the meet with Wisconsin ranked No. 11.
The competition between the two conferences brings a different kind of challenge than most other meets in which the team will compete. All three teams in each conference should be working together this weekend to score the best they can.
Penn State men's track coach Harry Groves said, "The conference is a team. The emphasis is one conference against the other. With that in mind, you just don't look at it as, 'What did Penn State do against this team or that team?' because we're not trying to enter it that way. We're trying to do well for our conference, against competition that has an excellent level of ability."
After an indoor track season in which the Nittany Lions had to travel for only one of their five meets, the team will have to begin to get used to traveling away from University Park. Groves downplayed any negative effects of traveling, though, believing his team can compete well on the road.
"Somebody's got to play out of town. We've had some of our best results out of town," Groves said.
After a meet last weekend at the Jim Thorpe Invitational that was plagued by rain and windy conditions, Penn State looks to improve on its success from last weekend with the weather in Knoxville that is expected to be around 70 degrees and sunny. After a week of practice in clear weather, the team should be well prepared to compete outdoors and continue to build toward the Big Ten Championships in early May, and the NCAA Regional Championships in late May.
"We have different goals," Groves said. "Big Ten is one of them, Penn Relays is another, and also the regional NCAA, these meets [like this weekend] are ways to teach you how to do it."
