Sporting victory mohawks and team jackets, the Penn State men's ski team met Tuesday night for the first time since winning the regional finals last Saturday at Blue Mountain.

Without mohawks, the women's team did the same.

The men decided to cut their own hair in mohawk-style after both the men's and women's teams became the Mid-Atlantic regional champions and clinched a trip to Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry, Maine for the United States Collegiate Ski Association National Finals next Wednesday through Saturday.

"It's a tough road at national level," coach Jim Polinchok said. "Most of the schools competing are varsity scholarship schools."

Penn State faced obstacles early in the season when warmer weather conditions prevented practices and meets. But, that didn't stop the ski team from improving enough to knock off rival West Virginia in the Allegheny Conference championships.

Polinchok said he had never seen his team ski that well before, and he's anticipating more of the same at nationals.

"My expectations are them being able to compete at that level against kids that could end up in the World Cup one day," he said.

Senior captain Chris Caruso has a similar outlook.

"Our goals going into nationals are to really represent the Allegheny Conference well," he said. "Despite skiing in Pennsylvania, we want to show that we can still ski with the big guns."

However, the big guns come from NCAA schools like Denver and Vermont, with scholarship opportunities and mountains that are available for skiing all season long.

So while a victory at nationals seems improbable, the skiers are looking at the trip as a reward for a memorable season.

"It's a lot of fun, especially because I grew up racing in Vermont against [the other girls]," said Alexa Owen, the individual women's Mid-Atlantic champion. "It's like a big reunion for all of us."

But the trip to Sunday River is more than a get-together for the sophomore regional champion. Having already accomplished her preseason goal of finishing first in the Mid-Atlantic region, Owen is looking forward to her second trip to nationals.

Last year, she suffered through an up-and-down finale in which she finished in the top 30 of the slalom, but fell in the giant slalom. This time, Owen has her sights set on a top-20 finish.

However, goals like Owen's were not the only topic discussed at the meeting Tuesday night. In fact, the meeting was focused around one key issue.

"Sometimes transportation is a struggle for us," Owen said. "We pay a lot of our own way, but we work hard throughout the year to raise the money."

When the team departs tomorrow afternoon, it will not be flying.

Instead, it will drive to Maine in about three cars, making a stop in Boston at two teammates' houses before continuing the next morning.