After a winter of hard work, the BG track team is hoping their spirited efforts come to fruition this weekend when they travel to Kent State for the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships. The meet, which will begin today and carry on through tomorrow, is the culmination of the indoor track season. ‘In both our indoor and outdoor seasons, the MAC meet is always the one we focus on the most,’ coach Cami Wells said. ‘It gives our athletes a chance to go out and show what they can do against the best from around the conference.’ Among the athletes that will make the weekend trip to Kent are the throwing tandem of Whitney Hartman and TaKarra Dunning, who have, thus far on the season, enjoyed the most success for the Falcons. Hartman had reeled off five straight victories in the weight throw until her streak was snapped last week with a second place finish at the All-Ohio. Nevertheless, she boasts an impressive resume which includes the five wins and one runner up in the weight throw as well as four top three performances in the shot put. ‘Whitney is someone with a ton of experience whom we look towards in a meet like this to provide leadership,’ Wells said of her fifth-year senior. ‘I’m sure she will be looking to get all she can out of her final MAC Indoor meet.’ Dunning overcame an early hamstring injury to collect two wins in the shot put in addition to a combined five top five finishes in both the shot put and weight throw. Her shot put heave of 15.25 meters at the All-Ohio allowed her to become an NCAA provisional qualifier. ‘TaKarra is just a tremendous competitor,’ Wells said. ‘When the stakes are high like they are this week she really thrives.’ In some of their other events, BG will look towards sophomore Brittani McNeal to be one of their main point-getters. McNeal had been an outstanding overall performer for the Falcons this season, competing in a number of events including the long jump, where she has one win and a trio of top threes, as well as the 200- and 400-meter dashes, in which she recorded finishes of fifth and second respectively. ‘Brittani has been a very solid competitor ever since she arrived here,’ Wells said. ‘She is definitely someone with a bright future ahead of her.’ Two more rock-steady athletes who will be competing are sophomores Heather Conger and Autumn Dettmann. Conger, a native of Euclid, Ohio, punched in back-to-back victories in the 800-meter run during the middle part of the season, while Dettmann has three top five finishes to her credit in various distance events. ‘Both Heather and Autumn have improved so much as the season has gone on,’ Wells said. ‘In the case of Autumn she has come a very long way since she broke her leg and had to miss last season. She has improved a little bit every week. It has been nice to see her hard work pay off.’ Although Akron, which boasts seven point-getters from last year’s meet, is the odds-on favorite to come away with the title this weekend, Wells believes if her team comes out focused and prepared, they have a very good chance at a high finish. ‘As a team, we can’t worry about how high another athlete finishes, we can only control how we compete,’ Wells said. ‘As long as we go out there and take care of our own business I think we will be fine.’