A Dickens weekend for trackwomen

It is the tale of two cities.

The Penn State women's indoor track team will compete in two meets in two different cities this weekend.

At noon today, seniors Shakeema Walker and Erica Bosler, sophomore Laila Brock and assistant coach Caryl Smith will travel to Indianapolis to compete in the Butler Invitational.

They were chosen because coach Teri Jordan thinks they have the best chance to qualify. Jordan will not be with them, but she does not think her absence will be a problem.

"I asked them if they needed me with them," Jordan said. "And they said that they would be fine without me, so I am going with the team that needs me."

Butler, which lasts until Saturday, will be the more competitive meet with many of the top teams in the country competing, including Big Ten powers Michigan and Wisconsin.

"The competition will be really tough but I am confident I can do well," Bosler said. "The track at Butler is really fast and I am looking to do well on it."

The other city in this tale is Ithaca, N.Y.

At 11 a.m. tomorrow the rest of the team will compete in the Cornell Invitational.

"The competition will be better at Butler, but we still need to do our best at Cornell," freshman Olutoyin Augustus said. "We need to concentrate on getting personal bests and qualifying for NCAA."

The reason the athletes and coaches are putting so much emphasis on qualifying is because with only three meets left before nationals Penn State has yet to have any qualifiers.

Last year at this same event, the team took home first place. This year, the meet will not be a scoring meet.

Other teams that will take part at Cornell include Penn, Colgate and Canisius.

With little pressure to win the meet, the athletes have the opportunity to concentrate their individual efforts on qualifying for nationals and gaining some confidence before they travel to East Lansing, Mich., in two weeks for the Big Ten Championships.

"This meet can be a good tune-up for the Big Tens," Jordan said. "The team is really working hard and getting ready for this meet."