The Bowling Green women’s track team will begin competition in the Miami (OH) Invite today in Oxford. The Falcons will be competing in a field of 12 teams, including Mid-American Conference foes Miami, Ball State, Ohio and Kent State.
Last weekend, the Falcons took third in the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational hosted by Cincinnati, who finished in second place ahead of the Falcons. The Bearcats will be competing in today’s meet and will be one of many teams to beat.
“We’re getting stronger as a group,” head coach Scott Sehmann said. “I think it will be a step up in competition from last week to this week.”
While Sehmann expects stiffer competition this weekend, he praised his team’s efforts at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational.
“I felt we gave a pretty good effort, considering the conditions last week. I thought the middle distance was very solid. I’m excited about that and I’m looking forward to see them challenge each other,” Sehmann said. “The throwers did a great job and showed good depth in the rain and muddy conditions.”
Sehmann also sees room for improvement, noting that with better weather to practice in this week, he hopes the relay teams will improve at this weekend’s meet and have better exchanges.
“Overall, I’d like for us to improve our competitive effort. A primary goal is to be focused whether you’re in heat one or heat five,” Sehmann said.
One factor that may be detrimental to the Falcon’s performance this weekend is the fact that a few members are sidelined for this meet for disciplinary reasons. While a negative factor, Sehmann doesn’t see it as too high of a hurdle to overcome.
“[It] won’t have a major impact on our performance as a squad,” he said.
Host Miami hopes to challenge the Falcons after competing in the South Florida Invite last weekend where they had seven finishes in the top three.
Likewise, Kent Sate is coming off of a second place finish at last weekend’s Ohio Invitational and will be another MAC team to beat. The Bobcats of OU took fourth at the Ohio Invite.
Ball State last competed in the Mik Poehlein Invitational in West Lafeyette, Ind. Although no team scores were recorded, they had a strong showing from their top jumpers and sprinters.
Action begins this afternoon at 5:30 and continues all day Saturday.
