They're not even really relays.
Years ago, Penn State men's track and field head coach Harry Groves dubbed this weekend's meet the Nittany Lion Relays and the name stuck.
The Nittany Lion Relays, set to begin at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning at the Nittany Lion Track, isn't a relay meet. The meet is scored and will feature visiting teams from Mansfield, Pittsburgh and Susquehanna.
Tomorrow is one of only two meets the Lions host before the end of the semester, and the only scored one. Team members are hoping for the home track advantage, both in terms of meet scoring and in search of NCAA qualifying marks. Four Lions have already hit the required numbers.
Last week at the Sea Ray Relays in Tennessee, two Nittany Lions qualified for regionals. Senior Alex Langan met standards with a personal best 100-meter dash of 10.44 seconds, and senior Matt Lincoln qualified with his own best time of 3:47.61.
Two weeks earlier, junior Steve Meyers and sophomore Allen Pettner hit regional marks at the home Jim Thorpe Invitational. Pettner set a then-Big Ten best distance in the Javelin, hurling it 218-2, and Meyers, in one of his multiple events, qualified in the shot put with a heave of 56-1.
The rest of the squad will be looking to earn its spots in the NCAA regional field, and should have an easy enough time with the three visiting teams.
Freshman high jumper Ryan Fritz is yet to dominate outside like he did earlier in the indoor season, but is always a threat to run away with the competition. He and fellow jumper senior Tyler Fedeli seemingly try to out do each other every week.
Another of Penn State's indoor stars, senior thrower Scott Vernon, has one win in the hammer throw so far, and should be in contention for his second.
Distance tandem Dan Mazzocco and Chris Nirschel finished 1-2 last week in Tennessee, and are the smart pick to be at the top of the field in the 5,000-meter.
Pittsburgh, a team Penn State has grown familiar to seeing, will have athletes in State College for the third time this year.
The Panthers have the athletes to compete with the Lions in multiple events, especially Tony Bonura and Mike Wray.
Bonura currently leads the Big East in the javelin, only a few feet behind Pettner, and Wray was the Big East indoor champion in the 60-meter hurdles.
Pitt's best chance for wins will probably be in the distance events, in most of which they hold time edges over Penn State.
Mansfield and Susquehanna probably won't be able to hang with Pittsburgh or Penn State on the meet scoreboard, but could steal a few events.
Mansfield do-it-all man Chris Cummings is a Division II All-American. If Susquehanna makes any noise, look for it to be in the throwing events.
