PREVIEW: Ball State track and field outdoor season

The beginning of the Ball State track and field outdoor season starts this Saturday. The team will be traveling to Butler for the Stan Lyons Invitational.

Last year, the Cardinals placed third in their first meet of the outdoor season with 57 points. They will be competing in 40 degree weather and head coach Brian Etelman said that the weather will be a factor for them this weekend.

"We have been outside a couple times practicing the past couple weeks,” Etelman said. “We need to make sure that we are outside so then the outdoor meet will not be a big shock to us.”

Etelman said that the team is looking forward to the outdoor season because they will do a lot better than what they did in the indoor season.

After the Stan Lyons Invitational, they will head to NC State to compete in the Raleigh Relay.

Etelman said that the NC State meet will be the meet that gets them going for the outdoor season.

“The Raleigh Relay in North Carolina will be a momentum builder for us, “Etelman said. “It will get our wheels turning a little bit and we will be better for the next month.”

Another momentum push was how well sophomore Jazmin Smith and sophomore Regan Lewis did in the indoor season. Smith got first place in the 60m hurdles and Lewis beat the school record clearing the bar at 1.81m and got second place in the high jump in the Indoor MAC Championship.

The two sophomores are going into the outdoor season with a lot of momentum from a couple weeks ago.

After the Raleigh relay, the Cardinals will travel to the University of Cincinnati to compete in the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational. They did not compete in this meet last year, but they will see the Cincinnati Bearcats in the Raleigh Relay.

The Cardinals will host the Ball State Challenge on April 14 through April 15.

The last time Ball State hosted a meet, Lewis was one jump away from beating the school record and Smith came in first place in the 60 meter hurdle. Also, freshman Bryeana Byrdsong came in second place in the 200 meter run, falling .23 seconds short to the reigning champion, senior Sarita Dotson of Western Michigan.

After their home meet, the team will be traveling to the University of Illinois and competing in the Illinois Twilight before heading to Michigan at Hillsdale College for the Gina Relays.

On April 28, the Cardinals will be traveling to Hattiesburg, Mississippi to compete in the Southern Miss Open, the last meet before the Outdoor Mid-American Conference Championship.

Last season in the Outdoor MAC Championship, the team finished last still accomplishing many top five finishes and personal records.

The Cardinals had a six career bests in Athens, Georgia for the Georgia Invitational. They also had four career bests the meet before that at the Redhawk Invitational at Miami University.

They also had six top five finishes at the Miami Duals in Miami University and at the Billy Hayes Invitational in Indiana University.

The Cardinals begin the outdoor season Saturday in Indianapolis.

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