The Bowling Green track and field team will head to Ball State this weekend to take part in the Cardinal Invitational.

This track is the same track that the team will compete on for the Mid-American Conference Championships.

The Falcons will also send one athlete, senior Brittany Sinclair, to the University of Virginia to compete in the Virginia Challenge.

“We have three big weekends left of the regular season we need to take full advantage of,” head coach Lou Snelling said. “Friday is an opportunity for us to get comfortable with the facility and continue to improve before the MAC Championships in May.”

Going into the meets, the Falcons are ranked number 55 in the country by the United States Track and Field Coaches Association.

Sinclair has put herself into a good spot going to Virginia and is now a favorite to win the 400 hurdles at the MAC Championships. After being surpassed in the number one spot by other runners, Sinclair posted a personal best 59.77 seconds in the event to take back the top spot. She was .03 seconds short of the school record and is the only athlete in the MAC to post a time under 60 seconds this year.

The hammer throw has continued to be a strong point for the team going into the weekend. Team captain Brooke Pleger goes into the meet ranked first in the country with a mark of 222 feet 4 inches. Redshirt sophomores Kori Reiser is ranked sixth in the MAC while Kayla Velasquez is ranked ninth.

Alicia Arnold has also been strong so far this season as she goes into the weekend ranked second in the MAC for the long jump. Her mark of 19 feet 0.75 inches is less than an inch away from the top spot. Arnold is also ranked second in the 100, fifth in the 200 and 17th in the high jump.

Another high ranked event in the MAC belongs to Mackenzie McMillin. After beating her personal best in the 10,000 by more than 100 seconds, she is ranked third in the event with a mark of 36 minutes 14.29 seconds.

For rankings as a team, the Falcons are ranked in the top 10 in the MAC 22 times and in the top 20 another 14 times. Two of those rankings are at the number one spot.

Nationally, the team has five marks in the top 100, two of those in the hammer throw.

Both meets will begin on Friday and the Virginia meet will go

through Saturday.