The schools participating in the seventh annual New Balance Collegiate Invitational reads like a Who's Who of the elite programs in men's track and field.

The defending indoor and outdoor champions, Arkansas and Florida State, along with Tennessee, LSU and Big Ten opponent Ohio State are just a few of the teams that are headed to Armory in New York City.

Penn State will look to show that it can compete with those elite programs at 11 a.m. today, and then at 9 a.m. tomorrow at the New Balance Track and Field Center.

"This year is the most competitive, with more than 200 teams [men and women] and most of the best ones in the country," press relations for the meet, Dave Herscher said.

Despite going up against such a strong field, the Lions will try to capitalize on this weekend's talented opposition to the team's advantage.

"We want to utilize the field to really improve performance. Whenever you go up against good competition like that, you want to respond and have a good performance," Alford-Sullivan said. "We're looking to get used to higher level competition more and more."

Ryan Fritz is one of the Lions hoping to impress this Saturday. He earned a berth in the high jump championship heat as the No. 7 seed. Fritz will look to improve upon his six-foot , 11-inch leap in the Penn State Relays and break the seven-foot mark.

The Lions will look to use "arguably the fastest track," according to armorytrack.com, to capture a victory in the distance medley relay. The team of Dan Mazzocco, Michael O'Donnell, Brian Fuller and Michael Syrnick are ranked third in the championship heat that will be the last race of today's competition.

Other Lions looking to make an impression are Ryan Kleintop in the long jump, Mark Miller in the 800-meter run and Steve Myers and Dane Miller in the shot put.

The Nittany Lions hit the road for the first time this year after three successful meets at the Multi-sport Facility. The combination of great competition and the spotlight of the Big Apple could be daunting for some athletes, but Alford-Sullivan believes that her squad is ready for their first road test.

"You always have to play it out on how things are going to go. Who's really well prepared and who's gonna have a little bit of trouble with the intimidation," she said. "So you work closely with the athletes and build a lot of confidence up and a lot energy up to get it done. I don't really have any worries, I'm just hoping for continued good results."