With only three weeks remaining until their conference meets begin, the Cougars go back on the road Saturday for the six-team Sam Bell Invitational in Bloomington, Ind.’
UH will be in Indiana for the second time in three weeks and will look to build on its strong showing at the Notre Dame Invitational two weeks ago.
Head coach Ryan Turner appreciates the benefits of traveling the country and gauging his team’s standing amongst the nation’s best runners.’
‘ ‘Going to a meet like Notre Dame allows us to see good (teams) from regions all over the place,’ Turner said. ‘There are teams from California and the East Coast; we got to see a spectrum of teams.”
Both UH squads will compete against host Indiana, Indiana-Fort Wayne and Purdue, but the men’s group will include Wabash College, while the women will face Ball State. Turner said the small field would serve as a tune-up for the Conference USA season.’
‘Right now, we’re preparing for conference championships; we’re training,’ Turner said.’ ‘This is going to be a small meet, a tuneup and a chance for us to run against two premier programs in the Big Ten with Purdue and Indiana.’
This weekend’s meet will be on a hilly course, which is much different than the traditional flatland courses the Cougars are accustomed to. Turner said this would also factor into his analysis of the results.
‘Times are going to be irrelevant on this course because it’s just hilly compared to the faster and flatter courses,’ Turner said. ‘Really, times are out of the picture.
‘What I want to see from our kids leading up into our conference championships is two groups, two separate groups of individuals coming together as a team focused for the same goals, and that’s to compete together, to support each other and to prepare for the conference championships as a team.’
