North Texas Daily

Quentin Hope / Staff Writer 

All attention will be on Denton this week as the UNT track and field team plays host to at the annual North Texas Classic.

Home field advantage in hand, the Mean Green will look to have a strong outing. As the team approaches its fourth track meet of the outdoor season, head coach Carl Sheffield expects nothing less than his athletes’ best.

“I’m glad to be home and [8get] an extra day to sleep,” Sheffield said. “Just being at our own track and being comfortable with our surroundings, it will be good to run in front of our home crowd.”

Sheffield is coaching in his second season at UNT and knows that even though the competition won’t match anything close to what they saw last week at the Texas Relays and Bobcat Invitation, he has given the team the necessary motivation needed to keep competing at a high level.

“Being at home after last week has really fired [the team] up, so being here at home is always a positive,” Sheffield said.

For junior jumper Terrance Williams, who is originally from Houston, Texas, being at UNT means a chance for his family to watch.

“It’s real good to see your mom in the crowd,” Williams said. “It gives you a little boost of motivation.”

The Mean Green will face an abundance of other programs looking to get in some more work. Division-I programs like Texas Christian University, the University of Oklahoma and the women of Southern Methodist University will all be in attendance. Division-II schools such as Texas Wesley University and Texas A&M Commerce will be competing as well.

Sheffield has eyes on all his athletes this weekend, but feels some of his athletes are due for a good showing. Junior sprinter Clinton Collins and senior sprinter Ashley Harrison will open in their individual races the men’s and women’s 400-meters.

The meet starts today with the hammer throw and the triple-jump at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday at 9 a.m., the remainder of the field events will take place before the running events at 2:30 p.m.