A good race in the Big Ten Championships this weekend could ensure success at the NCAA Regionals and help pave the way to the Nationals for the Penn State men's cross country team.

Penn State men's cross country coach Harry Groves said the field in this weekend's championship, held in Minnesota on Sunday, will feature more talented teams then the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional on Nov. 12. This weekend Penn State will be racing against six teams ranked in the MONDO national top 30 poll.

Defending champion No. 2 Wisconsin is favored to win the title for a seventh straight year. Trying to knock off the dominate Badgers along with Penn State will be No. 11 Iowa, No. 17 Michigan, No. 22 Indiana, No. 23 Minnesota and No. 26 Ohio State.

Junior Dan Mazzocco thinks his team is ready for this highly competitive race.

Mazzocco said his team has enough training. Now it is just a matter of it all coming together on race day. Mazzocco placed 20th at the conference championships last year and hopes to medal this year. While this is the only time Penn State will race against its brethren in the Big Ten, according to Mazzocco, there are no rivalries like in football.

"We are not gunning for one team. We have some teams we know we have to be around," Mazzocco said. "There are no rivalries. We want to beat all teams equally."

Wisconsin senior Simon Bairu might have something to say about that.

Bairu looks to continue his dominance in the conference and take his third straight Big Ten title. Groves recognizes the depth and talent of the conference and said that if his team can crack the top five, it would be an outstanding effort. But his team will still hold nothing back and take a shot at the title.

Not having a competitive meet last weekend has allowed the Lions some time to prepare for championships. The last time the team raced was in the Penn State National on Oct. 15, where it finished ninth. The Lions felt they could have had a much stronger finish in that race after winning back to back at the Paul Short Invitational and the Penn State Spiked Shoe Invitational earlier in the year.

Over the course of the season, Mazzocco, senior Chris Nirschel, sophomore Oskar Nordenbring, grad student John Iannacone, senior Matt Lincoln and senior Sean Kennedy have scored consistently and have packed well for the Lions. The Lions will need them all to step up this weekend to have a shot at the title.

Mazzocco has been talking about the Big Ten Championships since the beginning of the season. He feels this team can finish in the top three.

Whatever the outcome of the race, there are a few things Penn State's junior standout wants everyone to take away from the meet about the Lions.

"[I want them to say] Penn State is a factor," Mazzocco said. "That we ran well as a team. And that we are a tight knit group of guys willing to put it all on the line."