Athletes and coaches talk consistently about coming out strong or being quick off the line, phrases that are as much sports clichés as "we just need to make plays" or the ultimate postgame sound byte, "we've just got to take it one game at a time."

Of course, in track and field, being quick off the line means just that, and on Saturday at the season-opening, non-scoring Penn State Relays, the relatively young Penn State men's indoor track team began its run to the Big Ten Championships at the Multi-Sport Facility.

In a large 14-team meet, the Nittany Lions runners did their best to distance themselves from the competition, winning four races including the team of Alex Langan, Shawn Colligan, Knowledge Timmons and Ernie Terrell breaking a school and meet record in the 4x55-meter shuttle.

The Lions also won the 4x55-meter hurdles, the 4x400-meter relay and the 1600- meter spring medley. Fans saw Penn State runners snag second place in the 4x200-meter and the 4x800-meter relays, and a third place finish in the distance medley.

Lions jumpers and throwers were competitive in every event, including a first-place team finish in the weight throw and second place team finishes in the long jump, triple jump and pole vault.

Freshman high jumper Ryan Fritz and senior thrower Scott Vernon both recorded exemplary individual performances. Fritz finished first individually with a jump of 6-10.75, and Vernon won the weight throw, easily out throwing the second place finisher by a convincing five feet.

Despite what appeared to be a show of overall superiority, after the last events finished Saturday night, Penn State men's track coach Harry Groves was looking over the final meet results with mixed feelings. As content as he was with victories, Groves knew that if his team had hopes of being competitive in a strong field, most of its members would need to elevate their level of performance.

When assistant coach Andrew Hardyk approached Groves, the two immediately expressed their mutual concerns.

"They're trying way too hard," Hardyk said as Groves nodded his agreement. "They're that good. They don't have to try that hard. They just need to relax and go."

"We were competitive in pretty much everything," Groves said, "but only a few things were impressive."

Reflecting on the meet yesterday during training, team members were eager to agree with their coaches.

"I think it was a meet just to kind of get the kinks out. If you're gonna make a mistake make it now," said senior 800 runner Dan Michael.

"Our DMR [distance medley relay] did really good, our 4-by-8 did good, but our 4-by-mile, they just went out too quick," said sophomore distance runner Michael Syrnick. "I just think we need more workouts."

Hardyk, who admitted he liked the win but not the numbers, knows what a somewhat disappointing opening meet can mean to a season.

"We have so few meets to do indoors, to take one of our four regular season meets and have it go like this, that's like, 'Wow, that's 25 percent of our meets right there,' " Hardyk said. "I think they competed almost to the level of the competition. They should routinely be above these guys."

Groves didn't seem quite as concerned and looked at the meet as a building experience.

"As you go along, you never know until the season gets going," Groves said. "We're trying to balance out our team, and relays are a good way because you can add some depth."

"We run every meet here until Big Tens, and we're spoiled on this track, it's really fast," Syrnick said, referring to the banked indoor track at the Multi-Sport Facility. "The Big Tens is definitely a step up from these guys, and we need to run better."

Michael, the senior with plenty of Big Ten experience said it simply: "We definitely need to start picking it up."