JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Track & Field team will visit a familiar site in Johnson City, Tenn. when they get set to compete in the East Tennessee State University Invitational & Knoxville Youth Athletics HS Indoor Classic.
It will be the third time in the calendar year that the Eagles have competed at ETSU. The events will take place over a two-day period from Jan. 12-13 at the Dave E. Walker Indoor site.
The ETSU Invitational marks the second indoor event of the year for the Eagles who last competed in the Bast-Cregger Invitational on Dec. 1 and 2 in Salem, Va.
Over the course of two days, C-N broke multiple school records which included several athletes who qualified for the Indoor National Championships in March.
"We came in last Friday to start that process of being on campus and getting back in shape," Coach David Needs said. "One thing with track is you have to do a lot individually on your own. The coach can't be there for everything especially distance runners. We had to rely on their good nature over break a bit but judging from what workouts have been it looks like they worked really hard over break."
The ETSU Invitational will give the Eagles with the opportunity to compete against plenty of Division 1 talent early in the indoor season.
Teams expected to have athletes in attendance include: Wofford, Coastal Carolina, Campbell, Appalachian State, Western Carolina, Vorhees, UNC Asheville, ETSU, and VMI.
A hand full of other schools including South Atlantic Conference foes in Lenoir-Rhyne, Mars Hill, Queens, and Tusculum will also test their skills against D1 opponents.
Tennessee Wesleyan, Milligan, Guilford, Montreat, Cumberlands, Barton, High Point, Lees-McRae, USC Upstate, and East Tennessee State are included in the large field of athletes.
"In track, you can come back as a professional and run. There will be some people who have won Olympic medals that will be there this weekend," Needs exclaimed. "Manteo Mitchell, who ran at Western Carolina, will be there. For us to go against D1 people and Olympic medalists is a very good experience. You get to go out there and compete against some of the best week in and week out, and it helps gauge where you are."
Mitchell earned a silver medal for the United States in the 2012 London Olympics when he competed in the 4x400-meter relay.
Updates will be available on http://www.timinginc.com/ and cneagles.com.
C-N returns to Johnson City for a second time in 2018 on Feb. 2 and 3.
-CN-
