Last week, the Penn State women's track team rolled over some of the top competition in the world, including Olympians Marion Jones and Joice Maduaka. Tomorrow, it will look to keep the momentum going at the Nittany Lion Relays.

While the athletes assembling at the Nittany Lion Track may not be of the same caliber as those at the Mt. SAC Relays, the Nittany Lions cannot afford to relax.

Even if the teams competing are not what they were last week, Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said that the clock and the tape measure will still be against her team. In track, the clock and the tape measure are always the toughest competition.

"They definitely can't play down to any level of competition," Alford-Sullivan said. "You've got to stay peaked up for what you're trying to do."

Last year, Penn State, using a split team because the Mt. SAC Relays fell on the same weekend, dominated the meet, winning 10 events against Clarion University. This year, Penn State will have a full team, but tougher competition with Pittsburgh and St. Francis (Pa.) coming to town.

The Panthers, reigning indoor champions of the Big East, will provide the toughest challenge, bringing All-America thrower Amanda Walker and the Mid-Atlantic Region Women's Athlete of the Year Maureen McCandless.

During February's Sykes-Sabock Challenge, the last time those two were in Happy Valley, Walker swept the throwing events and McCandless won the mile run.

This weekend will renew the rivalry between Walker and Jennifer Leatherman, Penn State's top thrower. Leatherman was unable to beat Walker in any event during the indoor season.

However, she has been having a solid spring, and this could be the meet during which she finally gets Walker's number. So far, Walker has better marks in the shot put and the discus, but Leatherman has thrown 198 feet, 6 inches in the hammer throw, over 20 feet farther than Walker's best, 177 feet, 10 Ã| inches.

Alford-Sullivan is planning to use this meet as a bridge to the Penn Relays, which are less than a week from today.

"We're not going to go at it at full strength," she said. "But we will compete hard and hope to produce well on our own track."

One athlete not at full strength right now is muli-talented freshman Gayle Hunter, who has battled tendonitis in her right knee. Hunter will sit out the long jump, triple jump and high jump, events that could put too much pressure on her knees. She will rest the next few weeks in hopes of being healthy for the Big Ten meet.

Hunter had to sit out of the long jump at the Mt. SAC Relays, but was able to run in the 4x400-meter relay and the 100-meter hurdles.

"It's getting better," Hunter said Tuesday. "The more time I give it off the better it's getting."

If her coaches want her to, Hunter plans to run in the hurdles, or possibly the 200-meter dash or 4x400 relay this weekend.

The rest of the team is healthy and ready to compete at full strength. In order to keep everyone at full strength, Alford-Sullivan will not have athletes doubling or tripling up on events.

"We're making some conservative decisions on who runs and what they do," she said. "We're going to train through this weekend."