It was neck-and-neck all afternoon as the Penn State women's indoor track team battled Virginia Tech for the top score at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge cup.

It could have gone either way entering the final two events on Saturday as the Nittany Lions led the Hokies by 1.5 points with only the shot put and 4 x 400-meter relay events remaining in the final home meet of the indoor season. Third place Cornell trailed second place by 50 points and could not challenge the leaders.

In the end, Penn State's nationally ranked 4 x 400-meter relay team won its event but could not overcome the scoring drive of Virginia Tech's shot put squad, which took three of the top eight spots, earning 22 points toward the Hokies' 139.5-123 win.

"Virginia Tech surprised me with their all around strength," said head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan. "They are a very good team, they put together a very strong performance here and they were excellent. They deserved the win this weekend but I'll be honest with you, I thought we had enough strength to win."

In the team-scored meet, points were awarded to the top 8 finishers in each of the 18 events, rewarding top to bottom team strength throughout the meet. The Hokies earned 35 points in the throwing events, 20-pound weight throw and the shot put. The Lions earned only two points
for Helen Higgins' seventh place finish in the weight throw, making the throws a huge difference maker in the meet.

"I don't think we got what we could from the throwers," Alford-Sullivan said. "It's just a few inches, it's just a few throws away from making a big difference. We're going to continue to work with that group to get the best out of them."

Individual performances by Shana Cox and Briene Simmons, both on the winning 4 x 400-meter relay team, helped Penn State erase an 18-point deficit earlier in the day.

Cox won both the 200 and 400-meter races while Simmons set a Penn State record while placing second in the 800-meter event.

The Big Ten Indoor Championships in two weeks were on the minds of the athletes and coaching staff this weekend during preparation and lineup choices. Events were chosen based on preparing for Big Tens as well as not overloading athletes with too many events.

"We didn't fully load," Alford-Sullivan said. "We didn't do everything we possibly could have. We made some decisions on people to what's best for them for Big Tens in two weeks, not necessarily what's best here."