The Ball State women's track team's first chance at a home meet comes at the last chance for preparation before the Mid-American Conference Championships.
The Cards host the BSU Triangular Friday at the Field Sports Building at 5 p.m., going up against Western Michigan and Miami of Ohio in their first home meet of the season.
"Both Western and Miami have a well-rounded team, so I think all the events will be competitive," Ball State head coach Sue Parks said. "They have good, solid performers across the board. Every event has top people from the conference."
BSU is coming off its most recent meet at Penn State University, the Sykes-Sabock Challenge, where sophomore Jill Scully set the Ball State school record in the 3,000-meter run.
"It means a lot to me to break the record. That was something I was shooting for last year, and I came close but wasn't able to do it. It was very fulfilling," Scully said.
Also at the Challenge, the team had 11 personal-bests for the second time this season, the first time occurring at the Meyo Invitational hosted by Notre Dame.
The Triangular falls on the week before the MAC Championships, forcing Parks to toggle with events to get the team prepared for the Championships.
"I think everybody's positive. We've improved every meet this season," Parks said. "We're still not quite where we want to be, so this is our last chance to improve some marks we need to."
Parks believes the players will be more inspired to perform well because the meet is at home.
"I think the girls are really excited about it, and typically we've always run well at this week at home," Parks said. "It's fun to come home and compete on the track you train on every day."
The meet will mark the team's second scored meet in as many weeks. The team finished 10th out of 12 teams at its previous scored meet, the Sykes-Sabock Challenge.
"Any time we have a scored meet, we want to win, but it's more important for us to be rested and ready to go for next weekend," Parks said. "We have to do what we need to do to be ready for next week."
The Cardinals begin action at 5 p.m. Friday in the Field Sports Building, with the final event beginning at 8:30 p.m.
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