Ohio is going to nationally ranked Virginia Tech to see how the team is progressing.
After an extended rest caused by a cancellation last weekend, the Bobcats’ will be back in action this weekend at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational.
The Bobcats are feeling good about themselves going into the weekend, as they had a respectable showing on both the men’s and women’s sides at the Dayton Flyer. The men won the invite while the women's side placed second overall out of four teams.
The Virginia Tech Alumni meet, however, is quite a bit of a leap as far as competition in the field goes with Virginia Tech and Florida State heading to Blacksburg, Virginia.
Both teams went to Nationals last year, and both were picked to finish in the top four in the Atlantic Coast Conference this year during preseason polling.
Also, the meet is extended to all alumni of Virginia Tech, hence the name, and the Hokies have had success running at home in the past.
Head coach Clay Calkins and assistant coach Tim Sykes agreed that keeping up with the two ACC powers this weekend would be considered a "success" -- regardless of their finish. As far as who else will be there, both coaches agreed there isn’t a comprehensive list. Yet, Calkins said Akron men’s team, which is picked to finish second in the Mid-American Conference, would be there.
It is going to be somewhat of a homecoming for women’s assistant Tim Sykes, who volunteered as an assistant coach for Virginia Tech’s Cross country and track teams from 2007 to 2010.
“It’s always fun. They’re a great group of coaches down there, they have an extraordinary program, and I’m still good friends with a lot of the coaches. A lot of the alums that come back, it’s fun because they were guys and girls that were there when I was a volunteering assistant," Sykes said. "So, it’s kinda like a reunion for me too. I lived in Virginia for nine years, and I lived in Blacksburg for five years, so it’s fun to have a little homecoming. It’s kinda like a second home down there."
The plan for both guys and girls seems to be to get another solid workout, but to add in a little more of a race type of feel to it, per Sykes.
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“They treated the UD meet as more of a workout, just to get a baseline feeling of things are going to be like on October 31st at MAC Championships. But, now were gonna incorporate some actual true race pace into the race," Sykes said. "What I’ve told them is to feel the race within the workout, but more of the race will be like what they’ll be running at MAC Championships."
Calkins mentioned that two of the men’s top runners, Matt Evans and Micheal McKean, will not run this weekend, though both are just about back to full strength after dealing with minor over usage injuries.
“This time of year, both the men’s and women’s crews are training through this meet. All the other teams are training through this meet as well," Calkins said. "That’s not (to) say that we’re not trying to win or do well, we’re just trying to be very strategic and do the best job we can to get those guys back to 100 percent in competition."
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