After a week away from competition, track and field will compete in two events this weekend.

Thursday through Saturday, the sprinters will compete at the Texas relays, which will be hosted by the University of Texas at Austin. The distance runners will head to the campus of North Carolina State and compete in the Raleigh relays Friday and Saturday. This weekend will mark the first of three times the Huskies will send teams to two different meets during the outdoor season.

NIU last competed at the Bulls Invitational, which was hosted the University of South Florida. Ten Huskies registered 15 top 10 finishes in the team’s first outdoor meet of the season.

Leading the way for the Huskies was sophomore distance runner Meghan Heuer who won the 1500 meters clocking in at 4:36.63.

Connie Teaberry, track and field head coach, said both the sprinters and distance runners missions’ are rather simple.

“We have two meets this weekend, the Texas relays and the Raleigh relays, and we just want the ladies to continue to stay focused and compete and if they do those two things,” Teaberry said. “We’ll end up with great times and great marks on the board, [which would then be] conducive to getting them ready for the MAC championships in May….”

Getting those great marks and great times may be a challenge for the sprinters in Texas because several nationally ranked teams will have representatives, including top-ranked Kansas, No. 2 Oregon, No. 4 LSU and the fifth-ranked host Longhorns of Texas. Other top 25 teams scheduled to compete include Texas A&M, Clemson, Arkansas, Baylor, Illinois and Texas Tech.

Senior sprinter Jenelle McCalla said she and her fellow teammates have to not worry about who’s racing beside them.

“I have to say being focused and being aggressive and like being confident in your abilities and the training that we have done thus far,” McCalla said. “I mean, going into the conferences and the meets that we have, we’re dealing with some great competition, and we just have to believe in ourselves that we can run with these ladies and that we can do some great things. It’s a big mental aspect, I have to say…believing in yourself.”

The distance runners will also be facing some stiff competition over in Raleigh, like Michigan State University, Duke University, North Carolina and Michigan.