When preparing for last weekend's Penn Invitational, a meet marred by heavy rain, strong wind and cold temperatures, Penn State men's track and field head coach Harry Groves said a team has to go far west or south to find good running weather during this time of the year.
This weekend, the team will get its chance to perform in some good weather, as it makes the trek south to Knoxville, Tenn., to take part in the 40th annual Sea Ray Relays today and tomorrow at the University of Tennessee.
Although a majority of the meet will begin today, two Nittany Lion athletes, Chris Morrisey and Shawn Colligan, began competing in the Scott Hartman decathlon Wednesday afternoon. After the first day of competition, Morrisey was in fifth place while Colligan sat in seventh.
The remainder of the team departed State College yesterday morning and will begin competing this afternoon.
Awaiting the team in Knoxville will be a field of over 2,000 competitors representing 84 collegiate and 33 professional teams and will give the Lions a chance to see how they stack up against not only the best in the NCAA, but also the best in the world.
The field will consist of multiple past national champions at the NCAA and junior college ranks, as well as an Olympic gold medallist.
This immense field of extremely talented athletes just reinforces Penn State men's track and field head coach Harry Groves' opinion of the Sea Rays.
"Whenever you go down South," he said, "They never give you anything, you have to earn every position and every win."
The team left State College with some high expectations and is looking for some big performances from Ron Jules, Ryan Fritz, Alex Langan, Allen Pettner, Steve Meyers and Scott Vernon. Pettner, Meyers and Vernon have each already qualified for the NCAA regional championships, while Jules, Fritz and Langan are all undefeated so far this season in the 110-meter hurdles, high jump and 100-meter dash, respectively.
With these high hopes and such stiff competition awaiting the team in Knoxville, regardless of the results, today and tomorrow will prove vital when it comes to the team's development and success for the remainder of the season.
As Groves put it, "This meet will test us and will give us a good look at how well we are developing."
There is one thing for sure -- the team is ready to get out of wet and cold Pennsylvania and into some good running weather to post some good results.
And, in case you were wondering, this weekend's forecast in Knoxville calls for temperatures in the mid-80s, which should make for a fast track and some fast times.
