The Wildcats track team performed admirably in the Cougar Indoor last Friday, and they are peaking at the right time with the GNAC championships coming up in two weeks.

Head Coach Kevin Adkisson was pleased with the team’s performance.

“We saw the majority of all of our competitors improve their marks, so that was great,” Adkisson said. “On the women’s side, we’ve got 20, maybe 21 people in the top ten.”

A few members of the track and field squad will be competing this weekend, Feb. 14 and 15, at the University of Washington (UW) Open.

Much of the team will be resting for the GNAC, but runners like Kent McKinney will be there.

Adkisson said that since there are only 13 men on the roster, most of them will compete

Adkisson is feeling confident going into the UW Open, as he sees this meet as one last pit stop before the championships begin.

“I think that we are really looking forward to having people continue their progress and show us who is going to be competitive at the conference meet,” Adkisson said.

Some of the people who need to improve their marks will also be in Seattle this weekend to try and qualify for the GNAC.

The others who have made it will most likely rest at least one of the two days at the UW Indoor Invitational.

“We know there’s people that need to go to improve their marks, and we know there’s other people who are better off resting this week,” Adkisson said.

Coach Adkisson is confident that team members competing this weekend will do well and improve their marks.

“We know almost all of the other conference schools will be there in force, so it’s safe to say it’s a preview for the conference meet. We want to go and increase marks to show that we are going to be ready,” Adkisson said.

Several personal records (PR) were set last week at the Cougar Indoor meet, including weight thrower Becki Duhamel, who placed third with a 17.59 meters throw.

“Some of our better people whose marks are set won’t go,” Adkisson said.

Adkisson will be resting athletes that need it before the crucial meets and is continuing that mentality this week.

The GNAC conference meet is the only meet of the season that counts and gets scored.

Adkisson says that this is the time of year when the competitors really lock down and focus on their marks.

“Conference is where it gets fun, where things really count… as we start to build towards conference people are getting more focused on their placings and really competing hard,” Adkisson said. “That’s really the fun part of the team aspect.”

The UW Open is the last regular indoor meet of this season before the GNAC Championships.