While the snow was falling outside the Multi-Sport Facility, the Penn State men's track and field seniors were rising up to lead their team to a victory in the sixth annual Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup.

Before their final home meet under the shadows of Mt. Nittany, the 12 Penn State seniors were recognized and honored for the four years of hard work they have given to the program. Then when the meet got underway, the seniors took the initiative and racked up crucial points for their team.

Senior athletes Scott Vernon, Tyler Fedeli, Alex Langan, Dan Michael, Chris Nirschel, Ernie Terrell and Steve Morgan combined to score 55 of Penn State's 125 points.

Scoring in all but one event allowed the Nittany Lions to overcome the No. 10 Wolverines by 7.5 points. The win is Penn State's third in the six years of the Sykes-Sabock Challenge.

The lone Penn State individual win came from Terrell, who was coming off a leg muscle injury suffered two weeks ago at the Penn State National. He admits he was hesitant at first.

"I was a little nervous during the 400, that's why I didn't run as fast," he said. "But as the day went on, I started picking it up, and it felt great."

Terrell was able to shake off the nervousness and pick up a win in the 200.

He beat teammate Knowledge Timmons by the slimmest of margins, .0005 seconds, which is literally less than the length of a heartbeat.

The 200 proved to be a big race for the Lions as they racked up 19 points in the race -- 10 points for Terrell's win, eight for Timmons' second-place finish and one point for Langan's eighth-place finish.

Nirschel was also able to overcome some pain to finish third in the 5,000-meter. The final 1,000 meters was painful for the senior, but he also added that the soreness was not restricted to Saturday.

"All week I haven't felt great, I've felt like crap," he said. "So to run the time I did, I was pretty happy considering how badly I felt."

Nirschel has been able to use everything he has learned over his four years to raise his level. He has been training differently than before and making smarter decisions on the track to make sure he does not have any regrets when he is finished his collegiate running career.

When assessing the performance, Penn State men's track and field coach Harry Groves was pleased, especially considering his team scored in all but one event.

"That's something special in a meet like this [with 14 teams]," he said. "Because usually you have some gaps."

Now the entire team shifts its focus two weeks ahead, when it will board the plane bound for Madison, Wis., and the Big Ten Championships. When asked if he felt confident going into the championships, Groves said anyone going into the Big Tens confident is crazy.

"The Big Ten is a really great track conference, and it is difficult to be competitive," Groves said.

The Lions will get a well-deserved week off as they prepare for their biggest meet of the season. And one thing's for sure, if they can score in all but one event, like they did this past weekend, they will most definitely leave the championships very confident.