Ball State track and field will kick off its first outdoor meet of the season at Butler in the Stan Lyons Invitational. Due to the unpredictable and ever-changing Indiana weather, the team is preparing to compete in cold and rainy conditions.
Despite the weather, head coach Brian Etelman has high goals for the outdoor season, after closing out an indoor season that didn't necessarily meet his standards.
“We underperformed indoor, for sure. We didn’t have the meet we wanted to, and just kind of the season in general,” Etelman said. “We are better outdoors. We are just built for outdoors.”
Coming off an 11th place finish at the indoor Mid-American Championships, the Cardinals are ready to redeem themselves in the second portion of the season.
“I think we are as prepared as we can be, but it’s those situations in outdoor when you’re dealing with the weather and coming off of spring break,” Etelman said. “We’re just trying to find some momentum to build going into April.”
While competing outdoor at Butler this early is not ideal with the weather, Etelman schedules this meet with a plan in mind. He wants to see how his team is going to adjust to the outdoor conditions.
“We want to see how people respond to the cold outdoor meet because our conference meet this year is at Buffalo,” Etelman said. “Buffalo in early May, you never know what you’re going to get. In some ways, these early season meets may not be particularly fun, but it could prepare us for what’s to come in a couple months.”
While most of the roster is coming back to compete for the first time in almost a month, freshman multi-event athlete Abby Denham is competing for the first time in nine months.
“We have a freshman that is good, she is really good," Etelman said. "Abby Denham ... she took a throw in practice yesterday and we decided to measure and it was a very very good throw. She will have a good meet this weekend. I don’t think it will be amazing, but she hasn’t competed all year since she is an outdoor kid. In her actual events, it’s been nine months for her since she’s last done what she came here to do. So I know she will be really excited. We are looking forward to it and that will probably be a good part of the meet.”
Ball State travels to Butler for its first outdoor meet of the season Saturday with the time to yet be announced.
Contact Olivia Adams with comments at oadams@bsu.edu or on Twitter at @olivia_adams5.
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