Track & Field	SIUE Women's Track & Field SIUE Men's Track & Field SIUE Athletics

January 12, 2004 Track Teams Split for Saturday Competition          Both the runners and throwers will be in action this Saturday for SIUE’s indoor track and field team, but they will be at two different venues.          The throwers are scheduled to compete at the Illinois Wesleyan Relays in Bloomington, while the runners will travel to Carbondale to partake in the Saluki Booster meet.          For the runners, this is the first competition of the season. The throwers competed in one meet before winter break.          “We have a young group of runners, which is one of the reasons why we are competing this early in the season,” Coach Darryl Frerker said.          Although it is possible for any athlete to qualify for the national meet, Frerker indicated the purpose of this meet is to prepare his athletes for the schedule ahead, including the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships.          “Every competition is an opportunity to qualify for nationals, it just depends on where the athlete is to take advantage of that,” Frerker said. “Realistically, the majority of the team will use this early competition as experience, especially the young athletes.          “We also look at getting good marks to set us up better for conference competition.”                 -siue cougars-