KEVIN JENISON

GoSycamores.com

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Indiana State track & field team will be competing at one of their favorite indoor facilities this weekend as they travel to South Bend, Ind., for the 2013 Meyo Invitational hosted by the University of Notre Dame. The event usually brings together some of the best athletes in the Midwest to compete in one of the biggest meets at the midpoint of the indoor season.

Competition will begin at 4 p.m. Friday with the women's pole vault, women's long jump, and women's weight throw. The track events will begin at 5 p.m. with the preliminaries in the 60 meter hurdles. Saturday's action begins at 10 a.m. with the women's 3,000 meter race with the meet scheduled to conclude at 5:10 p.m. with the running of the men's 4x400 meter relay.

Sycamore head coaches John McNichols (men) and Angela Martin (women) are continuing to build their MVC Championship rosters and the Meyo Invitational may go a long way for some of the athletes to earn their spot on that roster.

“This meet is on an oversized track which has been an advantage in the past but with the new conversions we will just have to wait it out for a year,” McNichols said. “The flat 200 may be as good as oversized now with the new standards. The thing about this meet is that is good competition and good competition should help us perform at a better level with athletes responding to the competition. Across the board, it should be a situation where each athlete can compete at a higher level if they can keep their composure and respond to what is going on around them.”

Martin added that this meet is not just about chasing marks but also about the athletes continually improving with each passing week.

“We are going in looking to do a little bit better than last week and working on that conference list,” Martin said. “We are just looking to get some work done and become used to two-day meets while not getting caught up in chasing big marks. We will see some better competition this week so hopefully the kids will step up. The ultimate goal is to keep getting little bit better each week.”

Two individuals who have secured their spot on that conference roster are Felisha Johnson and Brandon Pounds who will be looking for consistent throws and increased distances against some good competition. Johnson leads the nation in the women's weight throw and ranks second in the shot put while Pounds ranks fourth in the men's weight throw.

Greggmar Swift, ranked fourth in the men's 60 meter hurdles, will again see some outstanding competition as he seeks to remain undefeated in the event for the 2013 indoor season.

Other athletes to watch this weekend include Leeann Michl who finished fourth in the 800 meters at the 2012 and may be placed in the invitational 800 meters this year. Shalesa Smith will be back for the women's triple jump and Maurice Lyke also returns in the men's long jump. Freshman distance runner John Mascari will also be running his first 5,000 meter race of the season.