As the SIUC men and women’s track and field teams host the McDonald’s/Saluki Invitational this weekend, women’s coach Don DeNoon and men’s coach Bill Cornell are looking for continuing improvement from their teams in order to be ready for the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on February 25-26.

Indiana State, Murray State, Mississippi State, and the Universities of Memphis and Emory will all be competing with the Salukis for the meet title, with Eastern Ilinois University competing only on the women’s side.

Cornell said only about one third of the men’s team is performing at a top level, and he hopes the rest of the team will come around in time for the MVC Championships.

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I think we’re behind schedule for conference, Cornell said. I’ll be on them (the athletes) every minute Saturday because we’ve got to get them working hard.

I hope they realize this is the most important part of our season and get in gear to show what they can do, Cornell said. Every meet is important right now, as they should be reaching their peak. Our main emphasis is trying to get them ready for the MVC meet.

According to Cornell, competition for the men’s team will be strong this weekend.

Indiana State finished third last weekend to our fourth-place finish, Cornell said. It’s important that we get a victory over them, especially with the conference meet coming up soon. Mississippi State will also be a challenge for us because they finished ahead of us at our Boosters Invitational on Jan. 13.

According to DeNoon, the competition for the women will also be tough, and this meet offers his squad a rematch against a team that defeated the Salukis earlier this season.

Indiana State, which beat the SIUC women’s team by two points at the Indiana Invitational on Feb. 3, might prove to be a challenge for the women’s team to overcome, but DeNoon remains optimistic that his team can pull out a victory.

We had a close, tight battle with Indiana State last weekend, and I hope for a better outcome this time, DeNoon said. There will be events that didn’t take place at Indiana, and we will have the opportunity to score more than just two athletes per event.

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The Saluki mid-distance attack, however, might have to perform without a key member of the 4×400-meter team, and 400-meter conference leader Katrina Daniels, who is recovering from stomach flu.

DeNoon said the overall mood of the team is good, though, as it goes into the weekend events, and said the team is looking sharp for the meet.

It’s kind of hard to read a mood of a team of individuals, but we’ve got different people that are really sky high for the meet, DeNoon said.

I think we’re making some giant strides right now. I think we’re getting sharp, and sharpness is what we need to be developing at this particular point.