Monaco said the team’s distance runners have been working out in the pool to stay fresh and prepare for the meet this weekend.

Well, I think a lot of people are stepping up in our distance running, Monaco said. Training has been a little different, and everyone has responded well to it.

The workouts in the pool take pressure off the legs. We’re just taking the easy days easy, so when we have hard practices and races we’re ready.

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Monaco is fresh off an eighth-place finish at the Butler Invitational in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10 minutes and 20.25 seconds.

The other top finisher for the Salukis at Butler was the first-place distance medley relay team (12:04.40) of seniors Raina Larsen and Kelly French, sophomore Leah Nolden and freshman Becky Cox. Freshman Felicia Hill finished third in the high jump (1.72 meters) and fourth in the triple jump (11.51 meters), while sophomore Finda Fallah placed fourth in the long jump (5.41 meters).

Women’s coach Don DeNoon said the 15-team meet featuring the University of North Carolina, University of Cincinnati, Indiana State University and Ohio State University should provide a unique challenge for his Saluki team.

The meet this weekend should be very competitive, DeNoon said. It should be good solid competition all the way through.

Monaco said the team’s fresh legs do not indicate lighter practices. However, they should help throughout the duration of the meet.

It seems like we’ve been doing less, but it’s been real quality, Monaco said.

The men’s track and field team is coming off a weekend of achieving personal bests at the Butler Invite.

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Junior Jeremy Parks ran a season-best (8:30.43) in the 3,000-meter run for a first-place finish in the collegiate level and third overall.

Sophomore Matt McClelland ran the mile (4:16.16) for an eighth-place finish, while freshman Chris Owen finished 18th in the mile (4:24.28). Sophomore Noam Darsa finished 11th in the 800-meter (1:53.34). McClelland, Owen and Darsa also ran personal bests.

Men’s coach Bill Cornell said he wants his athletes to continue improving on their conference rankings.

Training has been going well this week, Cornell said. We need to close the gap on the MVC (Missouri Valley Conference) rating list.

Cornell wants the team to be at its top performance by the conference tournament Feb. 27-28 in Normal.

Hopefully, we’ll stay away from any injuries or sickness, Cornell said. We just want to get a little better each meet and try to peak at the Missouri Valley Conference meet.

The men’s and women’s track and field team will be in action Friday and Saturday at the Mid-America Invite in Bloomington, Ind.