By Steve Holt, Sports Writer

The Wildcats will face their first significant Division I track and field competition Friday and Saturday as they compete in the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational on the campus of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

Schools already declared for the two-day meet include North Carolina, Minnesota, New Mexico, Stanford, Texas-El Paso, Kansas, Kansas State, Drake, and of course, the host school, the Nebraska Huskers. Nebraska is ranked in the “Trackwire 25” in both the men’s and the women’s, and the Huskers are joined by Kansas in the men’s rankings and Stanford in the women’s.

Head coach Don Hood said competition against talented athletes is one of the components of a successful team and season.

“As hard as these guys are training, they need to compete against some good people,” Hood said. “If we can compete well in the Big 12 or against the Big 10, then we can compete very well at the Division II level.”

The indoor facility, the Bob Devaney Sports Center, contains a 200-meter track that banks up on both ends, identical to the track that the Wildcats will run on at the national meet in Boston.

“We have to drive 10 hours to find a banked track, but we’re going to do that just so our kids will have more experience,” Hood said.

The meet will kick off on Friday at noon with the women’s pentathlon and men’s heptathlon, followed by two field events and five running events in the evening. On Saturday, the multi-events will conclude in the morning, followed by the remainder of the field events and the final running events.

Following the Frank Sevigne Classic, the ACU men and women will compete at the New Mexico Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M, followed by the George Mason Last Chance meet in Fairfax, Va. The NCAA Division II Indoor National Championship meet will be held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, Mass., March 10-11.