At this weekend’s YSU National Invitational, Ohio is focused on continued improvement, especially with the MAC Championships upcoming.
This weekend Ohio track and field will compete at the Youngstown State University National Invitational in Youngstown. Coming off of a ninth place finish at the Thundering Herd Invitational last week, coach Clay Calkins said the team had a “solid meet,” but there are some events that need to improve.
“[It was] one of the better meets we’ve ever really been to as far as the volume in competition … and the level of Division I competition,” Calkins said. “[But] we wanted to stack up higher than ninth … With that said, it gave us some areas to work on.”
At Thundering Herd Invitational, the Bobcats made the finals in throws and shot put and Calkins has been “very impressed” with their results thus far.
With some key long distance runners out due to injury, Calkins is hopeful that the team can turn things around as the season goes on, but also stresses that it won’t be long until the Mid-American Conference Championships meet.
“There’s not a lot of time left, you know. Three weeks before MAC, so we need to make improvements each week and I think that can happen,” Calkins said. “The athletes have been working hard.”
Calkins mentioned twice that the athletes’ ability to train harder this season is due in part to the Walter Fieldhouse, which opened in earlier last year. He has seen “monumental” progress during practices and applauds the ladies’ increasing fitness levels.
The team’s main goal right now is to get as many Bobcats qualified for the MAC Championship as possible. Calkins hints that the team’s strong point is in distance so when it comes to a conference that is known for its “stellar” sprint performances, the ladies need to do their best to qualify in those shorter-distance events.
“This week is a big week, we have to qualify for MAC, so we’re going to have to put some times up to get the kids to the MAC meet,” Calkins said. “That’s part of getting the job done.”
@TheSideline2016
