The women’s track team is looking ahead to an award-winning season after their premier meet March 26-27 in Tempe, Ariz.”That first meet is a good indication that we should do quite well this year,” says head coach Russ Rogers about the Baldy Castillo Invitational, hosted by Arizona State.Several women have created a powerful nucleus to lead the way for the scarlet and gray team. Sophomore Dominique Calloway placed first in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.26 seconds and first in the 200-meter dash in 24.14 seconds.Freshman Donica Merriman also competes in the 110-meter hurdles, the 200-meter, and the 400-meter relay.”They’ll both be very successful this season,” Rogers says. “I predict that they’ll both qualify for the Olympics sometime in the future.”Senior Shanda McJunkins, placed second in the 200-meter dash in 24.57 seconds and third place in the 400-meter dash in 54.69 seconds.Senior Erika Goines won second in the shot put with a heave of 50-11/4.And Desiree Jones, freshman, is an athlete with multiple skills, says Rogers. She placed first in the triple jump with a leap of 39-4 and third in the long jump, flying 19-3. She also placed 14th and 17th in the 110-meter hurdles the shot put, respectively. She also placed second in the pentathlon during the Big Ten indoor track championship in early March.Several other women contributed to the Buckeyes’ success in Arizona. Senior Abieda Benjamin placed tenth in the 800-meter run; sophomore Karen Keyes placed second in discus and tenth in shot put; and sophomore Cathy Carlin placed fifth in the high jump.”The girl’s team will be really, really good,” Rogers says. “I predict they will end up no worse than third in the Big Ten‹maybe even second.”The men’s team doesn’t appear to be quite as strong this year, according to Rogers.”Three or four of our best athletes are academically ineligible this quarter,” Rogers says. “Our men are especially weak in field events.”According to Rogers, freshman Andrew Pierce is the man to watch. He placed third in the 400-meter dash and eighth in the 200-meter dash.Senior Sekou Smith enjoyed some success in Arizona. He placed first in the 400-meter hurdles and second in the 110-meter hurdles.Freshman Ian Connor finished tenth in the 3,000-meter run.”I would like to see our men finish no worse than fourth in the Big Ten,” Rogers said. According to Rogers, the strongest teams in the Big Ten will probably be the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan.