SIUC will host the annual Saluki/USA Track and Field Open this Friday and Saturday at the Student Recreation Center, and both the SIUC men and women’s teams are looking to use the Open to gear up for the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships Feb. 23-24.

SIUC men’s coach Bill Cornell said although this meet will be used as fine tuning for the MVC Championships, several people will not compete due to injury or needed rest.

Cornell said one runner, sophomore Stelios Marneros, will rest this weekend in preparation for the Championships because he will be running the 3,000 and 5,000-meter events, competing against Martins Alksins of Wichita State, who holds a time of 8:11.11 in the 3,000-meter.

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Marneros won the 3,000-meter at the 1995 MVC Indoor Champs with a time of 8:22.71.

Four members of the field event squad will be sidelined this weekend due to injuries which include sophomore Allan Bradd and junior Ken Norkus, who both have back problems; senior Brian Hoffek, suffering from a knee injury; and junior Kris McGee, who has an injured foot.

Senior mid-distance runner Mark Russell also will not compete this weekend due to a pulled quad muscle.

Twenty-two teams will be competing in the unscored meet this weekend, and Cornell said he hopes this meet will take pressure off his runners so they will get good lane positions for their events.

It (the open) takes pressure off, Cornell said. Each runner is out for himself this weekend. We’re hoping for some good lanes in the shorter races like the 200-meter race.

Cornell added that he is not very optimistic about the season thus far, but hopes his team can come through the rest of the season.

I’m not feeling very optimistic about this year right now, Cornell said. According to the rankings right now in 17 events, we only score in six of them, so somebody’s got to come through and do something somewhere.

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For the SIUC women’s team, according to coach Don DeNoon, the meet will give members of his team the opportunity to cut back in the number of events competed in, but will not be used as a time for a lot of resting.

We’re allowing people to really get down and specialize in their particular event, DeNoon said. A girl like (senior) Elissa Pierce, who is one of the better 600-meter runners in the conference, has been hurdling. We’re taking her out of that event (sprint hurdles), and just letting her run the 600-meter run.

DeNoon said the Open will be junior long jumper Sheila Hollins’ first time to jump this year after coming back from an injury. He said she was the top returning long jumper in the conference last year.

This being the first time coming back in the long jump will help her with getting that competition going into the conference meet knowing what she can do.

Those people who are specialists, like the shot putters and weight throwers, will get another chance to get their performances a little bit better, DeNoon said.

I’m not as afraid of taking time off of competition as I am of having a fear that someone is going to get injured this week, and not have enough time to recover for the conference, he said. If we took a week off, we would lose that rhythm of competition.

DeNoon said his team is peaking now, and because of that, his team will have more confidence.

Having performances that are better shows that we’re ready, and psychologically that will give our kids a boost, DeNoon said.

DeNoon said that having strong events going for his team early in the meet feels good.

Everybody counts, he said. It feels a lot better early in the meet when you’re ahead twenty points than it does maybe winning by one point.

DeNoon said the level of competition will be strong in the upcoming open meet, and he looks for that competition to help his team.

All we’re looking for is getting ourselves a more competitive edge whether we get beat or not, DeNoon said. My shot putters don’t stand a chance against (Olympian) Connie Price Smith, but just being in the same crowd with her, might inspire them to throw a couple feet further.