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.

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 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.

On the women's side I thought we had a very good day. We picked up right where we left off at the indoor season and jumped right into outdoor. This is a good sign of what is to come for the rest of the season.

Everyone seems to be responding very well to the warm weather. We're healthy right now. Hopefully we can put together a good meet this weekend and continue to do so the rest of the season. It's also going to make a big difference for both squads adding two more athletes to the women's squad and three to the men's team.