By Steve Holt, Sports Writer

Head track and field coach Don Hood will take a “handful” of athletes to the Oklahoma Sooner Indoor Invitational Saturday for their second-to-last chance to qualify for the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships, which will take place in Boston March 10-11.

Hood said he will take several field event athletes and a few runners to Oklahoma, while most of the team will remain in Abilene and train the remaining weeks before the national meet.

“Our plan from the beginning was that we’d run three track meets and have about three weeks to train,” Hood said. “There are a couple more people that need to go run another race. One or two points can spell the difference at a national meet.”

Eight individual men and two relay teams have qualified provisionally for the national meet, while two men have posted automatic qualifying times. On the women’s side, 11 individuals have qualified provisionally, while one individual and two relay teams have posted automatic qualifying times.

Following Saturday’s race, any remaining athletes who have not qualified will have their final opportunity to do so at the George Mason Last Chance Meet in Fairfax, Va., on Saturday.