Ball State University Athletics
Track & Field Opens Indoor Season Saturday at IPFW
December 03, 2015 | Track & Field
MUNCIE, Ind. - - A new era begins for the Ball State track & field program Saturday at 11 a.m. when it opens the 2015-16 indoor season at the Mastodon Opener hosted by IPFW at the Athletics Center Field House in Fort Wayne.
Under the direction of first-year head coach Brian Etelman, the Cardinals have found a renewed focus on training and have their sights set on redeveloping into a contender not only in the Mid-American Conference, but also in the region and ultimately in the NCAA.
Over the program's history, Ball State boasts three MAC Indoor Championship titles (1996, 1998 & 2001), four MAC Outdoor Championship titles (1996, 1998, 2000 & 2001) and one MAC Cross Country Championship title (2003). In fact, the Cardinals have even had a national champion on the roster in LaTasha Jenkins who captured the 1999 NCAA Outdoor Championship in the 200m dash.
In order for the program to recapture the glory days, however, it is going to take a complete team effort from all 29 student-athletes currently featured on the Cardinals track & field roster. For the past three months, the 21 returning student-athletes and eight newcomers have spent countless hours training for their opportunity to make an impact on the program. They will get their first chance to do just that Saturday, when they don the Ball State jersey for the first time in 2015-16.
“I think we are all really excited to finally put the uniform on and compete, especially for the kids on the track side that did not compete during cross country,” Etelman said about his team. “They have been training for about three months now, and the buildup and the anxiety to finally get out there and do what they came to do is pretty high right now. We are looking forward to the meet and I anticipate it going really well.”
Ball State's field event participants will get the first chance to see how far they have come over the last few months, with the weight throw, pole vault, high jump and long jump all starting at 11 a.m. The running events are scheduled to start at noon with the women's 4x800m relay and end later in the day with the women's 4x400m relay.
“I would call Saturday's meet kind of a rust buster for us,” Etelman said. “As well as we know our athletes through three months of training and coaching them, we have to see them compete. That is part of the intrigue and excitement on our end as a staff. We get to see how they do in a competitive environment. Our hope is to give them an opportunity to see all the hard work they put in during the fall; to see some return on that investment and keep them motivated over winter break. We want them to come back excited and ready to roll once we get into the full swing of things next semester.”
While Etelman and the rest of the Ball State coaching staff are excited to see everyone compete Saturday, three student-athletes have stood out this fall and are expected to provide some big performances over the course of the 2015-16 season.
“We are pretty excited to see everyone compete this weekend, but there are certainly a few that have had really good falls,” Etelman said. “Marie Lumpkin, our senior thrower, has been awesome in the weight room and we are looking for her to take advantage of that and put it out there in the circle. Makelle Skelton has been a very pleasant surprise in terms of the variety of things she can do at a really high level. She is going to be someone we can rely on a lot come conference time. Peyton Stewart, our freshman sprinter, has been looking really good in training. She is pretty talented right out of high school and has an opportunity to make an immediate impact in the league. Overall, we have a pretty good mix between experience and youth on our roster. We will need everybody, from the freshmen to the seniors, to contribute this year.”
The Cardinals will get their chance to do just that Saturday when they open the 2015-16 season at the Mastodon Opener.
“We will find out Saturday how good we are,” Etelman added. “This meet will give us an opportunity to compare ourselves with much of the conference, as probably half the MAC opens this weekend. So we will be able to sit down on Monday and see how our performances sort out. For us, Saturday's meet is going to act as that initial building block competitively to move on and hopefully give us something to be proud of.”
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State track & field, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateTFXC and @CoachE_BSU.
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