Carmen Sandiego won’t be found in W. Lafayette, IN this weekend, but the SIUC women’s indoor track and field team will be.

Last year the women’s Indoor track and field team left W. Lafayette, IN with a third place finish in the annual Purdue Invitational.

This year, the 20th annual Purdue Invitational will host North Central College from Naperville, the universities of Toledo, Illinois, and SIUC.

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I really have a lot of faith in this team, DeNoon said. I really think we can go through this whole indoor season undefeated.

DeNoon said the upcoming meet will probably be more competitive than the Saluki Invitational which took place on Jan. 13 and hosted such teams as Georgia Tech and Missouri.

DeNoon expects the most competition will come from Purdue and Illinois.

Purdue has been a comprehensive team similar to ours, DeNoon said. They can come at you in different directions.

The high jump is probably going to be the most competitive event there because Illinois has some strong kids in that area, he said.

DeNoon also felt Illinois was strong in the hurdle events and the 400-meter run.

The women will be trying to balance their team with members jumping on an off the injured list for the meet.

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Sheila Hollins, a key member of the 4×400-meter relay squad, is still out of action due to a leg injury she has suffered since last November, but sophomore Mindy Bruck, one of the top 600-meter runners on the team, is back in action after suffering a sprained ankle.

One bright spot for the Salukis is junior Lesley Batson, who is undefeated so far this season in the 55-meter dash.

She’ll have to run an international level time this weekend in order to hold onto that unbeaten streak, coach Don DeNoon said.

DeNoon said his team should compete strongly in the field events.

Our 20-pound weight throwers should be a major factor for us, DeNoon said.

We should be o.k. in the shot put, and we’ll be really strong in the long jump and triple jump, DeNoon said.

We should be able to pick up points everywhere versus some teams who are just not as competitive, he said