The Penn State women's track and field team will begin the outdoor portion of its schedule by splitting its team between two competitions.

Ten runners will travel to California to compete in the Stanford Invitational today and tomorrow while the rest of the team will compete in the George Mason Invitational in Fairfax, Va.

While Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan doesn't like to have the team divided, she feels the opportunities offered to the runners at the different meets outweigh the negatives of the situation.

"I like us to be together," Alford-Sullivan said. "But there are certain times when certain meets meet the individual's needs or the group's needs, and that's really what this is."

The Stanford Invitational will offer the team a chance to compete against some of the top competition in the country, with runners from Big Ten schools such as Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State and Indiana, as well as runners from Indoor National champion Arizona State.

Penn State will send a small contingent of the team's top runners, including Indoor All-Americans Shana Cox and Brienne Simmons, as well as the athletes who competed at the Indoor Championships earlier this month.

The trip to Stanford will be a homecoming of sorts for Alford-Sullivan, who was an assistant at Stanford from 1996-1999.

The rest of the team will stay closer to home and run at George Mason, but while the competition there won't be as high as Stanford's, the team hopes to have athletes hit the NCAA regional qualifying standards at both meets.

Unlike the indoor season, where athletes qualified for the national championships throughout the season, athletes qualify for regional championships in the outdoor season and earn their way to nationals by placing high at the regionals.

In addition to providing top-level competition, the Stanford meet also allows Alford-Sullivan and her coaching staff to showcase their program to high-school recruits on the West Coast.

"California is one of the best track states out there at the high school level," she said. "Having the West Coast kids see Penn State come in and then compete well; it certainly helps the recruiting."

Alford-Sullivan and her staff devote a great deal of time to recruiting, as they said it's equally as important as the coaching itself.

"As a coach your primary responsibilities are your team and your future team," she said. "We've got a great product to sell. We've got a great team. We have an incredible institution and great facilities, and a great opportunity for the sport."