Although they have had some success so far this season, the Bobcats’ toughest test is yet to come.
Sunday morning, Ohio will compete in the toughest race they’ve had during the 2011 campaign at the Indiana State Pre-Nationals Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind.
The meet will include over 40 teams and is regarded as the second-toughest meet in the entire nation other than the National Invitational Nov. 21. Some of the teams participating in the Pre-Nationals Invitational will include Indiana, Virginia Tech, Toledo, Florida State, Louisville and Baylor.
Ohio head coach Clay Calkins said he is unsure how his teams will fare in Sunday’s meet against the tough competition.
“This meet will definitely be a good test for our squads,” Calkins said. “We are going up against some of the best schools in the nation and we will face some great challenges.”
Until the start of the race, the Bobcat runners will have had 16 days off since their last meet in the All-Ohio Championships Sept. 30.
Because of the extra off-days, Calkins said he has been pleased with the work the team was able to accomplish during two full weeks of practice.
“It was really nice to train through this past weekend and keep up the hard work since we did not have a meet,” Calkins said. “We were luckily able to stay away from injuries and will all be ready to go come Sunday morning.”
The Bobcats are coming off a successful meet in which the men finished fourth and the women placed third. Leading the way for Ohio was women’s runner Juli Accurso, who took first place overall in the women’s race.
After doing well against the top schools in Ohio, men’s runner Tyler Ames is excited to race against some of the top runners in the nation.
“My main hope for Pre-Nationals is that we can work together and have our entire varsity squad run to their potential,” Ames said. “With all of the factors that go into having a great race, it is very difficult to get seven guys to all be at their best on the same day. All of our meets are just experience builders leading up to conference championships.”
cl027410@ohiou.edu
