The Ohio State women’s track team is set to head to New York where the women are scheduled to compete in the Armory Collegiate Invitational against some of the nation’s top programs, including No. 15 South Carolina, No. 17 Mississippi State and No. 11 Kansas.
This weekend, the Buckeyes are looking to continue forward after a successful meet last weekend and see the upcoming meet as an opportunity to work on the little things that need to be fixed.
Associate head coach Rosalind Joseph said this week in practice the team has been working more on technique.
“Now that we have gotten in a few meets, we are working on what we need to execute,” Rosalind said on the team’s work outside of conditioning. “Each person is starting to figure out what they need to work on individually.”
Junior sprinter and hurdler Alexandria Johnson said she is looking forward to showcasing her hard work in practice on her start and technique when she runs the 60-meter hurdles.
“Whether it is their finish, their start, blocks, or form, each person has their small change they need to make and that is what we are getting this weekend. (Fixing) those minor things before Big Ten (Championships),” Johnson said.
Senior thrower Emily Taylor agreed, saying this weekend is a good chance for each person to figure what she needs to improve on going forward so the team can ultimately be prepared for the Big Ten Indoor Championship, which is set to start Feb. 27. She said this weekend is a “mental and physical” preparation for the big meet.
The Armory Collegiate Invitational was recognized as the Division I “Meet of the Week” with the historic background and high level of competition it provides.
“This is definitely an honor, to be taken to this meet,” Taylor said. “Not everyone gets to go so if you get on this plane, you should be ready to compete. It’s not something I take lightly.”
With more than 100 teams set to participate, the competition is expected to be the toughest the Buckeyes have faced thus far in the season.
Joseph said it will be good to see the team compete against national competition this weekend, which helps prepare them for the conference meet. She added that it is always good to line up against some teams they aren’t always used to seeing in the conference to get an idea of where they stack up against the top ranked programs.
“Being in a large environment like New York, how the ladies prepare, how they handle themselves outside of normal conditions will be nice adversity to see how they are able to handle that test,” Joseph said.
Joseph said the team is always striving to be better than they were the week prior so as long as everyone is competing and improving, then they are “headed in the right direction.”
The invitational is set to begin Friday at 9 a.m. and continue through Saturday evening.
