Past Trend, Early Momentum Favor Track Cards At MAC Meet

Ball State at 2021 Indoor MAC Championships
Date	Friday-Saturday, Feb. 26-27
Time	All Day - Women's begins at 4 pm
Location	Hosted at Central Michigan
Meet Information	Championship Page \| Live Results
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

The biggest and most important meet of the indoor season is here. The Ball State track & field team heads into the the 2021 MAC Indoor Championships this weekend excited about the destination and proud of the journey it took to get here.

"It's been a lot of sacrifice, dedication and commitment on behalf of our team to get to this point. We're fortunate to be in the position we're in now," head coach Brian Etelman said. "We have a competitive team. Now it's time to let the team have some fun and see how it sorts out."

Three factors favor the Cardinals heading into this meet: the spirit and competitiveness the team has that allows them to historically punch about their weight, the shape of the track and the events that are held early in the meet.

Championship Overachievers

Etelman says the trend for BSU in recent years in this meet was to overachieve. That was definitely true last year, as the Cardinals placed third of 12 teams, the program's best finish since 2009. The Cardinals had two event wins in 2019. The Cardinals are banking on themselves being their best when their best is needed.

"We have a really competitive team. They love to compete and represent Ball State," Etelman said. "Our team is incredibly proud of themselves and of each other. Because our team is so close, when you get into the championship environment you start to see that come out."

The Actual Track Helps The Cardinals

Another factor in favor of Ball State is the shape of Central Michigan's track. It's very similar to Ball State's and that could come into play in tight spaces or when runners are taking curves. The Cardinals train on a track just like CMU's every day. Many other MAC schools have tracks that are wider, so the turns are at a different angle.

Fast Friday

Etelman says that of course you want to be solid for both days of the event but he sees strength in the team's early events on Friday. The thinking is Ball State can get off to a successful start and build momentum from there. The women's events start with the Pentathlon, where Ball State has Charity Griffith and Karlie Zumbro to start. After that, the Cards like their chances in the hurdles, 400m and 60m - all where Ball State can have early success.

"Charity and Karlie are very good. The excitement builds early when they're doing those events," Etelman said. "And then we go into some preliminary events right after that where we're really good. Friday is huge for us."

This weekend's title meet concludes the indoor season. The outdoor season will begin Saturday, March 20.