Track & Field Opens Outdoor Season Saturday at Stan Lyons Invite

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MUNCIE, Ind. -- After a successful indoor campaign which saw the Ball State track & field team post its best score and highest finish at the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships since the 2009 season, the Cardinals are poised for an even better run in the 2019 outdoor campaign.

"We are very excited about the start of the outdoor season, as we add some key events we are very strong in," head coach Brian Etelman said. "The javelin, hammer, discus, 4x100m relay and 400m hurdles are all outdoor events we anticipate having success in at the MAC and Regional levels."

Ball State opens the outdoor season Saturday, when it travels to Butler's Davey Track & Field for the Stan Lyons Invitational. Action in the six-team meet, which also includes Butler, Evansville, Indiana, Indiana State and Wright State, begins at 11 a.m. with the women's shot put and the men's javelin.

"We always look forward to outdoor season, as we finally get our entire roster competing at once," Etelman said. "Definitely brings a different kind of energy than you see in cross country and indoor track."

One event area the Cardinals were not lacking energy in during the 2019 indoor season were the sprints, which saw BSU's 60m group rank 33rd national and have three of the five fastest sprinters in the state of Indiana. Senior Peyton Stewart was the fastest of the group, leading all runners among Indiana track programs with a time of 7.49.

The Cardinals also boasted the 34th-ranked 60m hurdles group during the indoor season, as well as the two fastest 200m runners in the state of Indiana in junior Bryeana Byrdsong (23.99) and senior Jazmin Smith (24.19).

"Based on our performance during the indoor season, we feel like we have a legitimate shot at making a run at the MAC all-time record of 44.99 in the 4x100m relay, which would put us in the regional," Etelman said. "Our sprint and hurdle crew will continue to get better and better and put up big points at the MAC meet. In addition, each one of them has the goal of qualifying for the regional."

That's not the only event area the Cardinals look to shine in, however, according to Etelman.

"I believe Princess Carter, Megan Graves and Karleigh Conner have flown under the radar a bit and I wouldn't be surprised to see them have breakout seasons in their events," Etelman said. "While we performed well as a team during the indoor season, we have the talent and ability to be better in some of the areas we didn't score in. The outdoor season will give us the opportunity to prove that."

One other area the Cardinals know they will excel in, the high jump which features four-time defending MAC Champion senior Regan Lewis. Lewis will look to become the first female in MAC history to win five consecutive high jump titles at the MAC Outdoor Championships which will be held at University Track in the Briner Sports Complex May 9-11.

Before the Cardinals can look too far ahead in the outdoor season, however, they look to get off to a strong start Saturday at the Stan Lyons Invitational.

"The goal for Saturday is to compete," Etelman said. "We want to use the first meet as an opportunity to execute some small things in a lower key environment and get us prepared to go to Vanderbilt next week ready to put up some big marks."

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Track & Field Opens Outdoor Season Saturday at Stan Lyons Invite

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Players Mentioned

Bryeana Byrdsong

Princess Carter

Karleigh Conner

Megan Graves

Regan Lewis

Jazmin Smith

Peyton Stewart