Track & Field Opens 2017-18 Season Saturday at Fort Wayne

Saturday, December 2

Fort Wayne, IN

11 AM

Ball State University

Mastodon Opener

Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services

Track & Field Opens 2017-18 Season Saturday at Fort Wayne

December 01, 2017 | Track & Field

Mastodon Opener Heat Sheets (PDF)Mastodon Opener Final Schedule (PDF)

IMPORTANT LINKS: Live Video (no audio) | Heat Sheets | Schedule of Events

MUNCIE, Ind. - - After nearly four months of training, Ball State's track & field student-athletes will get their first chance to prove themselves Saturday (Dec. 2) when the Cardinals open the 2017-18 campaign at the Mastodon Opener hosted by Fort Wayne.

The six-team meet, which also features Butler, IUPUI, Northern Kentucky and Xavier, is set to begin at 11 a.m. with action both on the track and in the field events.

"Saturday is a day we have been looking forward to all fall," third-year head coach Brian Etelman said. "We finally get our entire team on the same bus, wearing a Ball State uniform and competing for one another for the first time this season."

Indeed, there is a lot to look forward to for the program, as the Cardinals are coming off their best performance in nearly a decade, earning five total medals at last year's Mid-American Conference Championships (combined indoor and outdoor), including three golds.

In addition, Ball State sent a pair of student-athletes to the regional round of the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

The three individual MAC event champions, five top three MAC finishes and two NCAA qualifiers were the most for the program since the 2009 season.

In fact, Ball State was one of only five programs to have an event champion at both the 2017 MAC indoor and outdoor championships. The Cardinals' three gold medals also tied as the fourth-most in the league for the 2017 campaign.

The best news for the program, all three event champions (Jazmin Smith – indoor 60m hurdles, Peyton Stewart – outdoor 60m dash and Regan Lewis – outdoor high jump) will be juniors for the Cardinals this season, while all but one of the 13 student-athletes who had a hand in scoring at both MAC meets last season also return to the squad.

Throw in a group of extremely talented freshmen who are also looking to make an immediate impact, and you can tell why there is a lot of excitement heading into Saturday's season-opener at the Fort Wayne Athletics Center Field House.

"We're really excited to see our track athletes, who have trained so diligently all fall, finally get an opportunity to show off their hard work," Etelman said. "As a whole, we feel we have much to prove this season, and Saturday in Fort Wayne will be the first step on our path to a successful 2017-2018 season."

For the most up-to-date news on Ball State cross country and track & field, follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateTFXC.