It will be one of the biggest meets of the year for 50 athletes from the Grand Valley State University men’s and women’s track and field teams when they travel to Bloomington, Ind., for the Indiana University Relays on Friday and Saturday.

The meet pits some of the toughest Division I programs, as well as top Division II programs, in the country. Teams such as the University of Notre Dame, Mississippi State University, DePaul University and Marquette University will make all who run for the Lakers come well prepared.

“Hopefully it will be an eye-opener and learning experience for us and help us prepare for later in the season, in a couple weeks at our Big Meet, onto the conference meet and then ultimately the NCAA Championships in March,” said GVSU men’s and women’s track and field head coach Jerry Baltes. “When we get to those meets we will have already seen great competition, so it won’t necessarily be a big deal for us. We will be prepared at a high level to be successful against the competition.”

This season will mark only the second trip the team has made to the Indiana University Relays. Last season was the first time GVSU competed for indoor and in 2010, only the throwers participated.

“It is an honor because the coaches choose who they feel will be the most competitive,” said women’s junior thrower Sam Lockhart, who recorded the best shot put in the country this past weekend. “Maybe not the top three in each event, but at least the ones who are nationally ranked, make the trip.”

Each group of athletes that specialize in a certain event, either within the track spectrum or the field, will have at least one person within their group representing them at Indiana. However, some groups will have greater numbers of people traveling than others.

“With the rest of the track events, you want to focus on competing pretty much every weekend and keeping your rhythm,” Baltes said. “But with the distance races you race either every other weekend, or two out of three weekends, giving your body a little bit more time to recover and focus on training specific to your strengths and weaknesses.”

For the track athletes, the conditions they face will be a bit different. Indiana University features a 200-meter bank track, rather than the 300-meter one they enjoy at the Kelly Family Sports Center.

“It’s a little different than what we are used to,” Baltes said. “We just have to be aggressive against the competition and compete at a high level. The results should take care of themselves if we do that.”

With the success that each squad has had so far this season, it is now time to hit the road and stay focused in a different environment.

“I am expecting improvement this weekend,” said men’s senior thrower Daniel Vanek. “A big meet like this can always get you confidence when you perform pretty decent. It you are successful you will be more confident for the Big Meet, conference and nationals.”

zsepanik@lanthorn.com