KEVIN JENISON

GoSycamores.com

TERRE HAUTE, IND.  – The Indiana State track & field teams will be heading south this weekend for the Auburn Tiger Track Classic Invitational which will be held on Friday and Saturday this week on the Hutsell-Rosen Track on the campus of Auburn University in Auburn, Ala. This will be the third meet of the outdoor season for the Sycamores who enter the meet ranked 73rd nationally for the men and 75th nationally for the women.

Competition in the hammer throw and javelin will be contested on Friday for both men and women starting at 5:30 p.m. (ET). The rest of the competition will be held on Saturday starting at 12:00 p.m. (ET) with the women's pole vault. The running events will start with the 4x100 meter relay at 1 p.m. (ET) with competition expected to end at approximately 6:30 p.m. (ET) with the men's 3,000 meter run.

A total of 30 teams will be sending athletes to the competition which is hosted by the Auburn Tigers (ranked 21st nationally for the men and 18th nationally for the women). Others teams are Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb, Georgia Tech, South Alabama, Charlotte, Lipscomb, Middle Tennessee State, Samford, Southern Mississippi, Western Carolina, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Shorter, Kennesaw State, Columbus State, Johnson C. Smith (ranked sixth nationally in Division II for both men and women), Belmont, Troy, Alabama State, Langston, Syracuse, Holy Cross, Emory, Alabama-Birmingham, South Carolina-Upstate, and Warner.

“There will be a great mix of talent at this meet,” Angela Martin, Indiana State women's track & field coach, said. “We will be challenged a lot but I am excited to see us compete. We are going up against teams and individuals that we do not see during the season but who some of our athletes may see if they qualify for the NCAA East preliminary round.”

Martin added that some individuals will be back in their normal events while others will be moved around to aid in their training.

“Our goal continues to be improving our performances as we get closer to the conference meet,” Martin said. “This is the style of meet that will help with our training as we get closer to the MVCs.”

The Sycamores will be at home next weekend as they host the Pacesetter Quadrangular April 13-14. Southern Illinois, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Butler will be competing against Indiana State.