The Auburn track and field team will travel to Lexington, Ky., Friday for the SEC Indoor Championships.
Coach Ralph Spry said because the championships are indoors, it will be slightly harder to compete because the track is more condensed and the athletes are familiar with outdoor conditions.
"Everything is going good, we've been very fortunate, the weather has been great, give or take a cold day here and there, so this gives us time to kind of rest up, kind of get sharp and tuned up so that when we go to the conference championships everybody is feeling poised and rested," Spry said.
He said his men's and women's squads are both competitive, but have their differences.
"The men's team is pretty solid," Spry said. "I've got a lot of guys that have been All-American and very good at the conference level. The other side, on the women's team, is very, very young. Any time you have a bunch of freshmen, you really never know until you get there.
"I've got a couple of girls on the women's team that are upperclassmen, and I'm expecting those girls to kind of set the tempo for us and get us off to a good start, and hopefully this young women's team can feed off of that energy."
Spry said he expects junior sprinter Harry Adams and sophomore thrower Stephen Saenz to continue to produce.
"Right now on the mens side, I've got two of the nation's best, one of them being Harry Adams in the 60-meter dash," Spry said. "Earlier this year he ran the fastest time in the world, and currently he has the third best time in the world.
"I've also got a sophomore in Stephen Saenz that throws the shot put, and he's got one of the best in the nation already this year."
Saenz said he has been working with assistant coach Jerry Clayton in preparing for the upcoming championship.
"For this upcoming meet we've really been taking off in terms of volume in the weight room and going a little light on the throws, just to kind of make sure I'm at maximum performance this weekend," Saenz said. "Right now I feel like I'm a lot stronger and faster than last year, and in the weight room I have improved tremendously. I lost some of the technical aspects I had last year, but I'm getting my rhythm back, and I feel like if I get it together I can throw a bomb."
Track and field practices three hours a day including weightlifting and running, taking Saturday and Sunday off, but with multiple events during their meets, Spry said he utilizes a full coaching staff.
"We're allowed six coaches, and each coach is responsible for certain areas," Spry said. "We're not like football or basketball where everybody practices at the same time. Normally we've got five or six coaches that work out throughout the day, normally from 3-5 p.m."
Adams said he is ready for the championships.
"I feel like practice has been going pretty good, getting my legs back under me and ready for this weekend," he said. "I like outdoor (tracks) better just because it feels more natural--Olympic runners run outdoors--it's that type of feeling."
Spry also said he will be looking to two leaders on the women's squad this weekend.
"A young lady named Nivia Smith, who has one of the top 200-meter times in the country, and also Kai Selvon. She's got two solid races put down this year: the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. Those are two girls that stick out to me right now," Spry said.
Spry said because of the nature of the sport, the team is focused on one aspect throughout the season.
"The biggest thing we've got to improve on is trying to keep ourselves healthy," Spry said. "That's tough to do for us, more so because we don't have an indoor facility. Every time we compete during in-door season we have to travel somewhere, and that requires a lot of wear and tear on your body, jet lag, riding buses and stuff like that."
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