Last weekend, at the Big Ten/SEC Challenge, the Penn State men's outdoor track and field team got a sample of some of the toughest teams in the Southeastern Conference.

This weekend, the Nittany Lions will be getting another sample. This time it is getting the toughest teams in the eastern region, when it competes at the Lou Onesty Invitational at Charlottesville, Va.

Penn State men's track and field coach Harry Groves called the invitational a "Mini-Big Ten meet."

He also added that although the competition is not as tough as it would be at a Big Ten meet, the Lions will still be going up against some strong teams.

"There is enough in the meet to make things interesting," Groves said.

Some of the teams that will be participating include the Rutgers Scarlets Knights, who are the current indoor IC4A champions, the Virginia Cavaliers and the James Madison Dukes.

Groves considers the Scarlets Knights one of the best teams in the East and the Cavaliers one of the better teams in the ACC. It is a scored meet with the top eight finishers scoring.

The Lions are coming off a strong performance at the Challenge last weekend, where it had a total of seven NCAA qualifying regional marks and times.

"I thought we did well," Penn State assistant coach Andrew Hardyk said. "We are moving in the right direction."

Penn State also got a boost of confidence, especially the youth, from the meet as it showed it could compete against best teams in that nation.

"There were a lot of decent performances," senior Chris Lolagne said. "It was great to have some stiff competition early in the season."

This weekend's meet is critical for the Lions because it gives it an opportunity to work on its conditioning in its buildup for the prestigious Penn Relays. Consequently some of the Lions will be participating in multiple events.

"Different meets have different focuses," Hardyk said, adding that they are not going to have athletes participate in too many events and risk injury and fatigue.

Another thing that the Lions will be wary of is the change from the warm to cold weather. Despite this, Penn State feels confident that it can overcome such factors.

So far during the outdoor season, the Lions have had no major injuries and have continued their strong form from the indoor season. But it is early in the outdoor season.

With each meet, the Lions confidence has grown and so has its desire to perform well at the major meets.

"We consider ourselves one of the best teams in the East," Hardyk said. "But obviously you have to prove it."

The Lions passed its first test last weekend and today is the start of the second.