The BG track and field team will be heading to the University of Akron this weekend to compete in the Akron Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
The non-scored meet begins at 3 p.m. Friday and picks up again at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. This will be the Falcons’ first meet on an oversized track as the team prepares for the postseason.
“This will be the biggest meet for us this year in terms of facilities and competition,” said Head Coach Lou Snelling. “We will need to see continued improvement this weekend.”
This past weekend, in the Tom Wright Classic, BG dominated the sprints and won four events.
Allison Weimer won the 400 meter dash, just missing the automatic qualifying mark for the MAC Indoor Championships, and anchored the winning 1600 meter relay team.
Berrion Berry posted a strong 7.86 in the 60 meter dash for the victory and Allorian Horne won the 200 in 25.83.
Natalie Sommerville, Felicia Jefferson and Brittany Sinclair joined Weimer on the 1600 relay team that won the meet in 3:56.97.
The Falcons will look to improve on that impressive weekend this weekend at Akron. They have been going through their normal preparations this week even though this is a two day meet instead of the normal one day meet. Brooke Pleger will throw this weekend after having last weekend off on coach’s decision.
“We will have a slightly smaller team this weekend, for this more elite meet,” Snelling said.
This meet is not only the largest meet but it is the most elite meet the Falcons have competed in this year. In total, the Falcons will be competing against Akron, Ashland, Florida Atlantic, Howard, IPFW, Kent State, Marshall, Miami (Ohio), Slippery Rock, West Virginia, Wright State and others.
“We need to keep improving before we run out of meets before the Mid-American Championships,” Snelling said. “We are about where we need to be at this time fitness wise, but we could still move up higher in the standings.”
With only two more meets left to qualify for the MAC Championships, the Falcons can feel the pressure to improve now and take that next step and qualify. They just have to keep themselves from settling for anything less than that, knowing that outdoor season is right around the corner.
“Of course we are feeling pressure to qualify for the conference championships we just have to step up and do it,” Snelling said. “Outdoor does not get any easier so, I hope they are not settling.”
