After a challenging opening schedule, the Penn State men's track and field team will find out this weekend just how much progress it has made since its opening meet.

The Nittany Lions will compete against the conference's best athletes tomorrow and Sunday when they travel to Bloomington, Ind., to compete in the Big Ten Indoor Championships.

The Lions have been anticipating this meet all indoor season. Since competing in the Sykes-Sabock Challenge on Feb. 10, the team has had two weeks to prepare.

"The primary focus of the indoor season has been the lead up to the Big Tens," Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "They are really fired up and ready to make a dent this weekend."

The conference has two nationally ranked squads in No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 11 Michigan and they will be the teams to beat this weekend.

The Lions have had goal-setting meetings this week in preparation for their biggest meet of the year.

Alford-Sullivan believes her team has the "capability of a top-five finish." To do so, the Lions will battle with Minnesota, Ohio State, Illinois and Michigan State.

If the Lions are to have a successful weekend, they will likely rely on their jumpers. Ryan Fritz has a chance to take home a title and will look to improve upon his conference best high jump mark of 7 feet-2.5 inches, which earned him the Big Ten's Field Athlete of the Week. Fritz placed second in last year's indoor championship.

In other jumps, Clarence Smith and Jay Pagana take the sixth and seventh best leaps into the triple jump and Ryan Kleintop, third in the Big Ten, will be in the high jump.

Also in the field, Dane Miller and Steve Meyers bring experience to the indoor championships, having previously placed in this meet. Miller owns the sixth best throw in the conference.

Mark Miller is another Lion who has a chance to win his event. He will be challenged by a very competitive field in the 800 meters. The top-10 times in the conference are only separated by less than three seconds.

Ron Jules is coming off his best performance of the year in the 60-meter hurdles and will look to build on his success.

Alford-Sullivan does not want to base her team's whole indoor season solely on the Big Ten Indoor Championships, but a good weekend could be a great stepping stone for the rest of the year.

"We have made good progress," Alford-Sullivan said. "A lot of confidence has been gained in practice and in the meets. Their gain has been tremendous and I hope it pays off this weekend."