KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, IND. ? The Indiana State men's and women's track & field team will be back in action on Saturday as they compete in the 16th annual Gene Edmonds Cup in Lambert Fieldhouse on the campus of Purdue University which is an annual dual meet between the Sycamores and Boilermakers.
“This is a great tradition between the two schools,” John McNichols, Indiana State men's track and field coach, said. “It brings out the best from both teams and it has always been a fiercely contested event.”
Competition begins at 11 a.m. (ET) with the field events while the track events will start at 1 p.m. (ET). The meet is scheduled to wrap up at approximately 3:30 p.m. (ET).
The Gene Edmonds Cup is a competition between Indiana State and Purdue which was initiated in 1995. It is named for Indiana State graduate and former Purdue track coach Gene Edmonds. The Boilermakers have held the cup for the past 15 years.
“If we can keep it close, especially through the middle portion of the meet, then we have a chance to win,” Angie Martin, Indiana State women's coach, said. “Last year we lost by one point and I think that, for the most part, we match up very well with them this year.”
McNichols also believes the two teams are pretty balanced and the races will be very competitive.
“I know that it will be a very competitive meet,” McNichols said. “It is my favorite kind of meet where each event has meaning toward the team goal of winning.”
Both Martin and McNichols will be moving some people around to different events to keep them fresh as the squads continue to fine tune their skills for the 2011 Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships which will be held Feb. 26-27 at the University of Northern Iowa.
“We have some holes in certain events and we will move people around to try and fill those holes,” Martin said. “Our young athletes have been improving each week and are putting a lot of pressure on our veterans to keep improving. It we can keep that up, we have a good chance to win. It is always great to beat a Big 10 team.”
Indiana State lost 80-81 in the women's dual meet while the men were defeated 61-101 a year ago. Purdue retained the Cup, which is determined by combining the scores from the two dual meets, with a 182-141 victory.
