M. Track one of 50 to compete at PSU

There's nothing like rewriting the record books to boost a team's confidence on its journey to a league championship. After eclipsing previous school times in the 800 meter and 5000 meter races at last weekend's Terrier Classic, the Penn men's track team now hops on a bus to Penn State to compete in the National Invitational, a weekend that will surely be packed with intense competition. And lots of intense competition. While the Terrier Classic brought about 30 teams, 50 teams plan on making the trek to State College this weekend. "When [the invitational] is as big as that, people can get absolutely lost if things do not go on schedule," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. "But then again, it always makes for good competition." Among those who will be running this weekend is senior co-captain Sam Burley, who broke the Penn record in the 800 meter run last weekend with a time of 1:48.16. "I was not surprised about what he did," senior co-captain and roommate Brian Abram said. "It was about the timing though. It came a little bit early in the season, which is great." "We went into the meet looking to go 1:48 flat with Sam," Powell said. "So that was one of the things we were trying to accomplish." While he was not shocked by Burley's superb performance, Powell was pleasantly surprised with Dusty Lieb. The sophomore set a new Quakers indoor record in the 5000 meter run with a time of 14:09.45. "With Dusty, I thought he would run around 14:20," Powell said. "It was great to see him run around 14:09." Lieb -- an All-American in cross country by being the top finisher in the Mid-Atlantic region in the 10 kilometer event at the NCAA championships in Terre Haute, Ind. last fall -- leapt to fifth place on the event's all-time list last season. Despite his exceptional performance, Lieb will not run in this weekend's meet. "I don't like to run the same guys in the same events week after week," Powell said. "It gets boring." Abram is a case in point of this philosophy. This weekend, he will run the 200 meter dash as well as the 55 meter and 400 meter events he ran last week. Abram broke his personal record last week in the 400 meter run with a time of 48.16, which was good enough for fourth all-time in the Penn record book. Despite the hoopla surrounding all of the recently broken records, the Quakers' coach has his sights set on the team's long term goals -- Penn's championship aspirations. "To be a championship team, we need to have our young guys perform at the same level as the money guys," Powell said. "It is time for us to get that blue-collar work ethic and get the job done." Powell has made sure his team does not get caught up in the accolades. "Records come and go, but championships live on," Powell said. "Down the road, you look at the [record] books, and your time might not be there anymore. But being an Ivy League champion, that lasts forever."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.