After finishing second overall in both of its first two meets this season, the Penn State women's cross country team now enters the toughest part of its schedule.

But the team did have two weeks to prepare for this Saturday's Penn State National Invitational at 10 a.m. The bye week allowed the team to both train more and get familiar with this weekend's course -- one the Nittany Lions already raced on this year at the Spiked Shoe Invitational.

"We got a few workouts in and we got to recover from the meet two weeks ago," sophomore Claire Percival said. "It's just another chance to work out on the course."

This weekend gives Penn State yet another chance to gain more experience before the huge meet next Saturday, the Pre Nationals, in Terra Haute, Ind.

The Penn State Invitational is the second meet his year the Lions will host. Because of the home course advantage and extra practice time, courtesy of the bye week, Penn State figures to be right in the thick of things once again. Maybe it can even finish out on top for the first time of the year.

"We just want to win the meet. We want to beat Syracuse," sophomore Claire Berryman said.

Berryman and her teammates all talked about wanting to beat The Orange, who appear to be the biggest obstacle for the Lions this weekend. Syracuse already beat Penn State once this year, winning at the Spiked Shoe Invitational September 23.

Other than the challenge from Syracuse, Penn State doesn't really have another serious threat to worry about. But by no means does this mean the Lions will take this meet for granted.

"There are 10-12 teams. They're not super-high caliber, but they're a good tune-up," head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "But Syracuse has a target on its back. We're fresh and ready to go."

Penn State is no doubt more worried about the Pre Nationals next weekend. The team will use this weekend to work out the kinks get ready for October 14.

The runners and coaching staff even seem to be relatively relaxed for this weekend's meet. It is one final time the team can focus more on improvement than actual performance.

"We have no true concerns. The athletes are working hard. We're not worried about being 100 percent for this Saturday but for next Saturday," Alford-Sullivan said.

And because the team is so used to running on the course where this weekend's meet will be held, there is even less of a concern. By the end of the meet this week, Penn State would have run on its home course at least five times within the last month.

"We had two workouts on the course to get familiar with [it]. It's just nice to know what to expect at the next turn," sophomore Meghan Noecker said.