The Penn State men's track and field team will be traveling south again this weekend to compete in the Sea Ray Relays, hosted by the University of Tennessee.

The Nittany Lions who had a successful performance at Auburn last weekend, will be looking to use the more pleasant southern weather to get another competition under their belts.

Facing some of the top track and field programs in the nation is something Penn State has gotten accustomed to and uses to lower times and increase marks.

"The meet down in Tennessee is usually a pretty big meet with a lot of schools from around the Midwest and part of the South," jumps coach Andrew Hardyk said. "People come from all around for this meet, so it's a good competition."

The Sea Ray Relays will feature a number of different events that aren't common for the standard track meet. The unique relay events will provide another element to the competition that the Lions will look to capitalize on.

"There are things like the shuttle hurdles, distance medley, 4 x 200, 4 x 800, 4 x mile," Hardyk said. "We have people running in some relays they wouldn't normally get to run in. Right now, we are entered in just about everything."

In addition to the team events, many individual athletes for Penn State will be looking to grab the highly sought after regional qualifying mark. Numerous members of the squad will have yet another chance to attain that goal.

"There are quite a few people that are within a couple centimeters in qualifying for regionals," Hardyk said. "They've put together some good performances but they haven't put together that one throw, jump or run."

One of those athletes who will likely post a top mark in the meet is sophomore high jumper Ryan Fritz. Fritz, who has already earned a berth to the regional championships, has a chance of placing in the top three for Penn State this weekend.

With a professional high jumper for Nike entered in the meet, Fritz will be able to use that challenge to jump right around his personal record in the event.

"It's always good when you are competing against some really good people and you have a challenge," Hardyk said. "He's at a stage now where he is starting to relish challenges. He's starting to get excited about it instead of nervous about it."

Even though it's only the third meet of the outdoor season for Penn State, the season is approaching the halfway point. The team is looking forward to staying up north once the weather becomes better, Hardyk said.

However, for this weekend, the Lions will be using a quality meet in Tennessee to prepare for the competitions that will take place at home in the near future.

"I've been [to Tennessee] around 15 to 20 times in my career," Hardyk said. "This is a meet I've always looked forward to as an athlete or a coach. It's a meet that really brings good things out of you. It's the total package."