SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Nearly 700 track and field athletes from 21 colleges and universities are scheduled to take part in the 18th annual Susquehanna Invitational, sponsored by Selinsgrove Ford, on Saturday at Nicholas A. Lopardo Stadium.

The meet is slated to begin at 9 a.m. with action in the hammer throw and discus, with the first running event at 9:45 with the women's 5,000-meter run. The 40th and final event of the day is the men's 4x400-meter relay, which is slated to begin at 5:45 p.m.

2002 marks the fifth time in the Invitational's history that the meet falls on Easter weekend. The meet has been held on the last Saturday in March annually since 1985.

Among the schools taking part in the Invitational are Division I Bucknell, Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference members Bloomsburg, Indiana (Pa.), Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg and Slippery Rock, and Division III Middle Atlantic Conference members Elizabethtown, Juniata, Lebanon Valley, Lycoming and Messiah. As in previous years, there will be no team scoring kept during the meet.

Last season, a total of 12 records were set in the first-ever Invitational held at Lopardo Stadium. From 1985 through 1999, the meet was held at old Amos Alonzo Stagg Field, while the 2000 Invitational took place at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on the campus of Bucknell in nearby Lewisburg.

Four men's and six women's individual champions are back to defend their titles, while three athletes are looking for their third straight titles and one aims for a four-year sweep in a pair of sprints.

On the men's side, two-time defending MAC champion and championship record-holder Chris Boyles of Messiah routed the field last year in the high jump after clearing 6 feet, 9 1/2 inches. His entry height of 6 feet, 11 inches has already qualified him for the NCAA Division III championships, though last season he competed in the decathlon and took fourth place.

Mansfield's Kyle Kintner is going for his third straight championship in the pole vault, after taking last year's title with a height of 15 feet, 2 inches.

Lock Haven's Gary Fisher is aiming to defend his 2001 crown in the high jump after taking the title with a jump of 22 feet, 1 inch. His entry distance of 23 feet, 7 inches is just one-quarter inch shy of the meet record of 23-7 1/4 set by the Bald Eagles' Carl Fisher in 1988.

Dickinson sprinter Chavaun Johnson took first in both the 200 meters (22.28 seconds) and 400 meters (48.80 seconds) last season. While he is the top seed in the 400 this year, he is seeded second to Lock Haven's Joe Webster in the 200 meters.

On the women's side, six-time All-American and 2001 NCAA Division II 100-meter national champion Amber Plowden of Indiana (Pa.) returns to seek her fourth straight titles in the 100 and 200 meters this year. She has set new Invitational records in the 200 meters each of the last three years, winning last year in a time of 24.89 seconds. She also set a meet record in the 100 meters last year with a time of 12.07 seconds.

Bucknell's Andrea Nyce has won the pole vault each of the last two years, setting meet records both times including a mark of 11 feet, 7 inches last season.

Other returning champions include Lock Haven's Jen Farrow in the 400 meters, Indiana's Sara Raschiatore in the steeplechase, Lock Haven's Sandy Ritz in the triple jump, and Millersville's Jennifer Smith in the javelin.