The tough competition the SIUC women’s track and field team defeated at the SIU Booster Club Invite Saturday is no comparison to the field it will compete against Friday at the Purdue Invitational.

The SIUC men’s and women’s track and field teams travel to West Lafayette, Ind., for the meet.

The women’s team, fresh off a home upset of NCAA foes Georgia Tech University, Mississippi State University and Southeast Missouri State University, will now be challenged by highly touted Purdue University and Ball State University.

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Ball State is ranked 11th in the U.S. Power Ratings in track and fields, while Purdue is ranked 12th.

Women’s coach Don DeNoon said he hopes his athletes can continue to compete at a top level of performance.

We are up against two of the strongest comprehensive track programs in the country, DeNoon said. Purdue tends to really perform well at home.

Another obstacle is the meet will not have the 5,000-meter run or the distance medley that the Salukis performed so well in at Saturday’s meet.

Sophomore Jenny Monaco finished second in the 5,000-meter with a time of 17 minutes and 56.40 seconds, while the distance medley team, comprised of freshman Becky Cox, sophomore Leah Nolden and seniors Mindy Bruck and Raina Larsen, also finished second (12:24.97).

DeNoon said he does not know if his team can keep up with this caliber of competition.

Somehow we won it last week, DeNoon said. I don’t know if we can stay in that mode and continue to step forward.

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Freshman Caryn Poliquin, who won the 20-pound weight throw in Saturday’s meet (50 feet 10.75 inches), said the team will have to compete at the same level it did Saturday.

We want to try and carry that momentum all through the season, Poliquin said. The first meet of the season (a third-place finish at Illinois State University Dec. 6) wasn’t that great. But we had a nice Christmas break, and we came out like a rock. We’ll try to do that all season.

The men’s track and field team is only taking 19 athletes to the Purdue meet because of injuries and a lack of preparation.

Senior Orlando McKee (foot injury), junior Ryan Lovelace (illness), sophomore Andy Bosak (stress fracture) and a group of other athletes who men’s coach Bill Cornell said he wants to work into better shape will all miss the meet.

Cornell said it will be difficult to compete with the low number of athletes.

It’s going to be a tough meet, Cornell said. Purdue tells me they have the best team they’ve had in a while, and Ball State always has a tough team.

Cornell said the men’s side does not have its rankings out yet but Purdue likely would be near the top.

Along with Purdue and Ball State, the Salukis will have to deal with North Central College of suburban Chicago. North Central College won the Division III Cross Country National Championships in November.

Cornell said it will be a matter of time to see when everyone is ready to compete.

I want to try and shape them up with some hard training, Cornell said. It goes week by week to see who is ready to go on the road.

The men’s and women’s track teams will compete in the Purdue Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind., this weekend. The women compete Friday. The men compete Saturday.