With the Mid-American Conference championship meets rapidly approaching, the men and women's track teams took two completely different approaches in the last tune-up meet.
The men's team traveled to Bloomington for the Hoosier Hills Invitational, but left many of their top athletes at home. The women, on the other hand, were in full force when they hosted conference rivals Miami (Ohio) and Western Michigan.
"We rested runners for two reasons, "men's head coach Jim Sprecher said. "First reason was to get the guys' legs back under them, and secondly, if anyone gets hurt the week before MAC, they aren't likely coming back."
Some Cardinals, however, did compete and Sprecher said they did an excellent job. Jumper Deighton Jarrett just recently came back from a sprained ankle to win the triple jump on Saturday.
"He's a little rusty, and he hasn't quite got his rhythm back," Sprecher said, "but he is making an impact."
Sprinters Chad Asprooth and Scott Allen placed first and second in the 200-meter dash. Both are usually 400-meter specialists, but they ran down in preparation for MAC.
"It is good to see they have the speed to race well in a shorter distance," Sprecher said.
The women had a vastly different philosophy going into their triangular meet with Western Michigan and Miami. Head coach Sue Parks said Ball State women are not in the habit of resting the week before a big meet.
"We never do that," she said. "We used this meet to show other MAC schools we are going to be a force."
The Cardinals finished with 120 points, well ahead of Western Michigan and Miami, who each had 90.
"We've showed we have one good person in all areas," Parks said. "This week, however, we showed the second and third can step up as well."
Parks said Ball State showed great depth in all events, especially the sprints, an area that has been lacking throughout the year. The Cardinals earned six of the top nine spots in the 60-meter dash, and five of the top six in the 200.
"We are starting to get people step up and realize they have a chance of scoring (at MAC)," Parks said.
Patricia Soman won the long and triple jumps and placed second in the 200. Janee Langhorne broke her own school record in the weight throw with a toss of 60 feet, 4 1?2 inches.
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