In the center of the sea of blue-and-white uniforms, one athlete's bright-green Nike sweatshirt contrasted sharply with the other apparel. Nonetheless, this woman still led the Nittany Lions in their post-meet cheer last Saturday even though she was no longer wearing her beloved colors.

Consuella Moore, a 2004 Penn State graduate and Penn State women's track and field star, came back to Happy Valley on Saturday to run the 60-meter and the 200-meter races at the Penn State National Open. Upon her second return to her alma mater for the meet, she still acted as if she was part of the team.

"It's like I tell people all the time, once a Nittany Lion, always a Nittany Lion, so when I come back, it feels like I never left," Moore said.

At the meet, Moore finished third overall in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.43 seconds and fourth overall in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.7 seconds.

In her career at Penn State, Moore was an 11-time All-American, which is a record number of All-America honors for one athlete at Penn State. She still holds the Penn State indoor records in the 60 and the 200, and was the 2004 Big Ten indoor champion in both of these events. She also was the anchor of Penn State's record-holding 4x400-meter relay team. In 2004, she was named the Mid-Atlantic Region Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Before Moore's heyday at Penn State, the women's track and field program was primarily focused on the throws and distance program. Penn State women's track and field coach Beth Alford-Sullivan arrived at Penn State at the same time as Moore with a goal of building the sprints, jumps and hurdles program to balance the team across the board.

With a sprint star like Moore giving the Penn State team its notoriety in the sprints division, she made a major impact on the track and field program at Penn State.

"Connie made our program," Alford-Sullivan said. "She became that person to lead us. She recruited the kids that are here on the team now. She took it to a whole other level. I just can't say enough. She's the face of track and field here at Penn State."

When asked how it feels to see her name still in the record books, Moore laughed.

"I know they're not going to stay there long because they are obviously meant to be broken, but it is pretty cool to see that I made an impact in history and Penn State," she said.

Her impressive collegiate career was capped off with a trip to the 2004 Olympics as part of the U.S. track and field team in the 4x100-meter relay pool. Although she did not get a chance to run in the Olympics, she participated in the opening and closing ceremonies and was able to experience the Olympic atmosphere.

"I guess you could say it was almost life changing. Next time I come here, I'm running and I'm not just running on the relay, I'm running in my own individual event, so it was very motivational for me," Moore said.

Her motivation has served as the backbone of her professional career. Today, Moore is a professional athlete sponsored by Nike training in South Carolina not just for the next Olympics, but for the World Cup competition at the end of this year.

Moore said she first knew that she wanted to be a pro when she attended the Penn Relays and watched the USA vs. the World track competition during her collegiate career. As an outsider at that time, she saw the crowd's enthusiasm for the event and knew that she wanted to be a part of it. Last year, she got her chance to participate in the event for the first time.

She knew that she had a promising future as a pro when she competed against and beat Marion Jones in the 200-meter dash at the Mt. SAC Relays her senior year at Penn State.

"I got the extra mode of confidence in my junior year when I really saw that I can compete well against the pros, and I was reassured again when I ran against Marion [Jones]," Moore said. "I was like, yeah, it's something I'm going to do, and I'm going to do it for a while."

Although her career has taken her away from Happy Valley, she still has a heart of blue and white. Even though she was an outstanding individual athlete, her commitment to the team as a whole is one characteristic that marks her personality.

Her favorite memory of her time at Penn State was not setting any records or winning any medals; rather, it was her experience running the 4x400-meter relays.

"With the team lining up around the curve, banging on the track saying, 'Let's go State, let's go State,' it's like man, OK, I'm not just running for me now, it's for the team. So whatever I have, it's like I have to do it for them," Moore said.

"Connie was a team player," Alford-Sullivan said. "She's an 11-time All-American and an Olympian, and the most important thing to her was always the team. Whether it was a relay or just the team atmosphere, that was what she was about."

When she returned to her former team again this weekend, besides preparing to run in her events, she took time to greet her former teammates and lead the team cheer. She was even amused that her cell phone number still bears the State College area code.

"I made a promise. I promised that I would always come back to the National Open," Moore said. "Penn State is like a second home. It's where I got started, and I want to show my appreciation that no matter how big I get, or how bad I get for that matter, I will always return to Happy Valley."