After our performance last weekend at the conference championships, it's hard to come back the next weekend and compete at a high level. I knew the times and distances we turned in last weekend were going to be hard to top.

The Drake Relays is invitation only. We have a number of kids that won't compete this weekend. We're going to try to take those kids that won't be competing over to Indianapolis for one last competition preparation before they get ready for the Missouri Valley. That is the important thing that we will be looking at this weekend.

We're just going to focus on individual events this weekend. The majority of the team will travel home Saturday night after the individual events, while a couple of the field event competitors will stay to compete Sunday. It makes it difficult to compete in the relays on Sunday, travel home and be prepared for classes Monday morning.

The athletes are up for the challenge. They're focused and I think our confidence is riding high. With two weeks before conference I think they really want to put up a good showing. This will be a very good test for us to see where we are mentally. If we can go out and execute as well as we have this year I think we'll be happy with the results.

Right now it's more important to have Lauren for the Conference Championships than to have her compete in the multi-events at Drake. It's unfortunate that she was invited to compete in the event, but we need to do what we can to nurse her back to health and have her ready to go in two weeks.

The Drake Relays is one of those prestigious meets around the country that is always a marquee event this time of year. It's a very special event there.