Hoosiers travel to historic track venue in Oregon

IU will compete at one of the most popular track and field venues hosted by one of the sport's most storied programs this weekend. \nThe Hoosiers head out west for the Pepsi Invitational Saturday hosted by University of Oregon. The scored quadrangle meet will put IU against Oregon, University of Missouri and University of Washington. \n"Oregon has historically always had a strong fan base and is just a storied program," said IU coach Randy Heisler. "Their stadium seats about 12,000 people and is covered on both sides. It will be a neat place for our kids to compete."\nAs of right now, Heisler's main goals for his team this weekend are to improve from the Indiana Relays and get as many athletes as possible qualified for the NCAA Regional meet. \nOne athlete expected to make the qualifying mark is sophomore sprinter Stacey Clausing. At the Indiana Relays, she was just one-hundredth of a second away from making the cut in the 200-meter dash and was Co-Big Ten Athlete of the Week. \nClausing ran 23.97 in the event. The regional qualifying time is 23.96. \n"Coming that close has given me a lot of confidence knowing I can run the times," Clausing said. "I just have to work on the mechanics and the little things to get that little bit more so I can make it."\nA crowd of up to 12,000 is expected to be in attendance at Hayward Field this weekend as the Ducks keep a tradition of hosting scored-meets alive. \nThe crowd might not be something IU is used to, but the main challenge for multi-event athletes like sophomore Lorian Price is that all three or four of her events are crammed into one day. \n"I just plan on going ahead and getting warmed-up for each event, take each event at a time, and switch focus when I need to," Price said. "It should be fun though with the big crowd out there."\nThis Saturday will be the Hoosiers' third time competing at the Pepsi Invitational making their previous appearances in 1991 and 1997. 2005 will mark Washington's eighth trip and Missouri enters the invitational for the first time ever. \nFor Heisler and his team, the season is still young and is not planning on bringing home the first place prize Sunday.\n"We're not taking our A-team in everything," he said. "It's still very early for us and we need situations where our athletes have the opportunity to perform well and to develop."\n-- Contact Staff Writer John Fischer at jbfische@indiana.edu.