The Ohio track and field team will travel to the Marietta Open on Saturday for their second meet of the season.
While the Bobcats will face 13 other squads in Marietta, the buzzword in Athens is improvement.
It's only about six weeks until we'll be competing in the Mid-American Conference meet
coach Clay Calkins said. There isn't a lot of time for improvement so it has to happen quick.
The team will not travel all of the distance runners, so the meet will be very important for sprints, jumps and throws, Calkins said.
It's a long year for them (distance runners) with cross country indoor and outdoor
Calkins said. We have to be pretty strategic in what meets we're going to concentrate on. It's a long year
and we can't expect them to run at peak performance every week.
The main thing we need to look at is improvement in sprints
jumps and hurdles. I would like to see top 3 finishes in a lot of those events
from both men and women.
The Bobcat men will be led by reigning MAC Track Athlete of the Week, Scott Mayle. At the Akron Quad, Mayle won the 60-meter dash and placed sixth in the 200-meter dash.
Whenever you get one of your athletes highlighted
it's great
Calkins said. He had no indoor season last year; it's his first indoor meet in two years. He comes out and wins the 60
with close to a school record. That's a great way to start off a season for an athlete.
Beside Mayle, Jeremy Keesee and Jordan Sharpe will help lead the Bobcat men. Last Friday, the pair finished third and fourth, respectively, in the high jump. The preseason coaches' poll predicting the Ohio men to finish second to last in the MAC also offers incentive to succeed, Keesee said.
It always offers a little more motivation
just to prove the critics wrong
