 "Photo: Lesley Haven")
The men's and women's track and field teams will send five athletes to Terre Haute, Ind., for the NCAA Division III indoor track and field championships Friday and Saturday.
Freshmen Cory Lockridge (long jump) and Isiah Gray (400) and sophomores Aron Kehoe (800), a returning national qualifier, Luke Buchholz (high jump) and senior Matt Kovnesky (800) are heading to the NCAA meet.
While the competition will be in a different atmosphere, men's head coach Darren Schneider isn't concerned about the pressure.
"I'm excited for them because if you think of all the athletes nationwide, very few have the opportunity to compete at nationals," Schneider said. "I know they are going to go out there, give it their all and represent the university very well."
The same sentiment can be found among the qualifiers, who after two months of strenuous training and stiff competition, are optimistic for the weekend.
"I've been working hard all year, and I'm confident that my hard work will show at nationals," Lockridge said.
Despite the fact that most of the qualifiers are underclassmen, Schneider feels this is a blessing that the athletes have the opportunity to gain valuable experience.
"With them being young, this is a great experience not only for now but for the future," Schneider said. "Hopefully they will get to nationals several times in their career. This is a good situation in all respects."
Kehoe is poised to improve on last season's finish.
"I'm going to continue doing what I've been doing," Kehoe said. "To me, it's another meet, and I do the same thing I do for all the other meets at nationals, run to win."
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