The Ball State men's and women's track teams will go their separate ways this weekend in a final tune-up meet before the Mid-American Conference Championships Feb. 22-23.
The teams will compete in different venues for the first time since Jan. 12, when the men stayed home while the women traveled to Notre Dame. This weekend, it is the women's turn to host while the men visit Bloomington for the Hoosier Hills Invitational.
Friday, the women's team will host a dual meet with conference foe Miami (Ohio). Women's head coach Sue Parks claims a home meet leading into the MAC Championships gives the Cardinals an advantage.
"We've always done this before the MAC," Parks said. "It is beneficial because we don't have to tear ourselves down by traveling somewhere."
Also, because the meet is a one-day affair, Ball State will have the remainder of the weekend to recover.
One Cardinal to watch in the final stages of the season is junior Patricia Soman. Soman is coming off of a career performance last weekend, when she set personal bests in the long jump, triple jump, and 400-meter run, following orthoscopic knee surgery during the semester interim.
"She is not yet 100 percent," Parks said, "but Patricia at less than 100 percent is better than most people."
The Hoosier Hills Invitational marks the second time the men's track team has traveled to Indiana University this season. The first came two weeks ago at the Indiana Invitational.
According to head coach Jim Sprecher, the last trip was very successful.
"We had a good meet," Sprecher said. "We probably advanced more people to the finals than any other team there."
The Cardinals are coming off a strong meet last weekend at the Cannon IV Invitational, where the team really began to show their depth.
"We developed a lot of one-two punches we expected to see all year," Sprecher commented.
One of those combos is the tandem of Victor Johnson and Corey Eloms. The long jumpers/sprinters placed second and third, respectively, in the long jump last weekend. Johnson came back from a broken hand to beat Eloms, who is nearing the NCAA qualifying distance.
According to Parks, both teams need to have a good outing this weekend.
"You always want to have that momentum going into the big one," she said.
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