The UA men’s and women’s track and field teams will continue to work their way up the ladder of competition this weekend when they square of against several strong Division I programs at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational today and tomorrow at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb.
After a strong performance at last weekend’s Blue and Orange Classic in Boise, Idaho, both squads moved into the national ranks provided by Trackshark.com at No. 12 (men’s) and No. 20 (women’s).
Despite the new rankings and the success the Wildcats had last week, nobody on the team is taking their early season success for granted.
“”You’re only as good as your last performance,”” said UA head coach Fred Harvey. “”We have to come back and continue to do good things.””
Twenty-four athletes set new personal records in Idaho, most of whom didn’t give that fact a second thought.
“”Our good marks (last week) are just going to push us more because now we have higher expectations,”” said long jumper Daniel Marshall. “”Even after we finished we were already talking about this next meet.””
The competition this week will go up another notch as Arizona takes on several premier programs out of the Big 10 Conference, Big 12 Conference, Southeastern and Pacific 10 conferences.
“”The meet this weekend is one of the most competitive fields we will face this year aside from the NCAA Championships,”” said UA throwers coach Craig Carter.
Harvey said that the confidence the team gained by performing so well last weekend will carry on to this weekend’s performance, a fact that speaks a lot for the maturity of the team, despite being a collectively young squad.
“”There has been nothing that I have seen in the way they practiced this week that would tell me that they are not ready,”” Harvey said. “”I definitely expect to see the same, if not a higher amount of competitiveness from our athletes this week.””
Harvey also expects big individual performances from sprinter Bobby McCoy and thrower Zack Lloyd. Both athletes have cruised through their first two meets, but will face their biggest competition of the season in Lincoln.
“”(Zack) is going head to head with arguably the guy he will be facing for the national title,”” Harvey said in reference to Idaho’s Russ Winger, who currently holds the top throw in the nation at 63 and a half feet in the shot put.
Harvey said the Husker Invitational will be the most important meet for McCoy, who will face off against the second fastest 400-meter sprinter in the country, Quentin Iglehart-Summers of Baylor.
“”It’s going to give (McCoy) an idea of what he’s capable of doing,”” Harvey said. “”(He’s) fit, (he’s) strong and now it’s a matter of how he can compete against some of the best guys in the country.””
The team will be mostly healthy this weekend after several athletes were forced to compete last week despite having flu-like symptoms. Some remnants of the illness remain, however, a fact that Harvey said actually benefits the athletes as far as making them tougher.
