With only five days of practice heading into this Saturday's meet, the Ball State women's track and field team will have a tough time making a strong impression early in the indoor season.
"The first (meet) is always a little ugly, but that's why you need to get it in just to get the rust out and get your feet wet," head coach Sue Parks said.
The Cardinals travel to West Lafayette this Saturday for the Purdue Open, their first meet of the season.
"There's no team score in this one, so we're kind of just running people in events for training purposes. Our real goal is just to get a meet under our belt and see how everybody looks," Parks said.
BSU is coming off a successful 2003 indoor campaign, in which it finished second in the Mid-American Conference. Parks looks ahead to the MAC Championships early in the season, citing a victory as her main goal for the Cardinals, who are ranked third in the MAC in a preseason poll.
"It remains to be seen whether we're going to be a contender or not," Parks said. "It's usually just a matter of who keeps everybody healthy and who's running well."
Junior weight thrower Holly Flittner believes the team is capable of capturing the MAC title.
"As a team, we can definitely win the indoor MAC. The girls are really excited and determined to do well. I think we have the depth on our team to do it," Flittner said.
BSU's depth will come in part from a freshman class that is 16 strong, one of whom is sprinter Christina Poulson, who will participate in the 60-meter dash and the 4x400 meter relay Saturday.
"I'm pretty nervous, but I'm more excited. I feel a lot stronger and more in shape than I did in high school," Poulson said.
Parks is particularly looking forward to seeing the freshman class compete as Ball State athletes for the first time.
"I'm excited to see how some of the new freshmen will do, particularly the new sprinters and jumpers," Parks said. "It'll be nice to see them finally in a Ball State uniform after training all fall."
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