Sunday, at the Brooks Invitational at George Mason University, the women's track team will be looking for a good day.

Not a good day on the track (that's always expected), but, for the first time this season, the Lions have caught wind of a rumor about fair weather.

"I think the biggest expectation is that we've heard it's going to be good weather," Coach Teri Jordan said.

The team has seen a lot of cold and rainy weather this season and Jordan said that competing under those conditions causes problems. People slip in the rain and it is difficult to relax muscles, Jordan said, adding that it's "difficult to compete at your max."

There may not be a better time for the good weather to arrive for the Lions.

The meet will feature 11 other teams that will offer some tough competiton for the squad. Jordan said the competition could help Dawn Eidson and Dana Dougan qualify for the 800-meter race at NCAAs. Both runners have already come close to qualifying this season.

Whether or not Sunday's weather is nice, this has been a quality season for the Lions.

"I think we've had some good performances with six NCAA qualifying marks," Jordan said. "I think despite the weather, we've been doing remarkably well."

Two of the NCAA qualifiers will not be competing at George Mason. Javelin throwers Jen Crouch and Stacey Gibbs are both injured.

Crouch has been hampered by a back injury since the indoor season and Gibbs sustained a sprained elbow last week at the Penn Relays. Jordan said that the earliest the team can expect Gibbs back would be for the Big Ten Championships on May 21-22.

The Lions are not going to worry too much about this meet, though.

"It's not a really big meet," runner Kelli Hunt said. "It's just a meet to keep us in tune for next week."

On May 9, the Lions will face off against Michigan and Michigan State at the Nittany Lion Track. And the team understands the importance of facing two good Big Ten opponents just two weeks before the championships.

"They're always good teams to run with, they help to get better times and everything, so that will be really good," Hunt said.

In between the home meet and the Big Ten Championships, the Lions will head down to North Carolina for an invitational on May 15.

Then, on June 3-5, the qualifying team members will compete in the NCAA Championships.

"We're looking forward to Big Tens and NCAAs," Jordan said. "Right now, we take one step at a time and build towards those two."