There’s a lot to be said for Massachusetts Indoor Track. Despite suffering from severe budget cuts, and competing against teams with as much as three times as many scholarships available, the squads are gearing up for another season in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

The women compete in their first meets today and tomorrow. Crystal Thierren, Nastaran Shams, and Ashley Creel are spending today in Rhode Island at the Rhode Island Pentathlon. Tomorrow brings the team to Boston University for the season opener.

Sprinting and jumping coach Antoinette O’Carroll has high hopes for the group she’s been working with since early fall. Newcomer Troyanah Evans joins Christina Huff, the top sprinter returning to the team, while Elisabeth Budd and Stacey Brown lead the longer sprints. Brown runs the 400 – meter hurdles outdoors along with Shannon Jackson, however for the indoor season, they plan to focus on mainly sprints. Jackson and Brandy green will compete in the 55 – meter hurdles.

“She’s been looking really good after fall training,” O’Carroll said of Evans.

The jumping events are a mix of veterans and newcomers. Ashley Creel is the team’s premier high jumper, and O’Carroll is anticipating the performance of newcomer Katelyn O’Toole in the event as well. The team’s biggest asset in the long jump and triple jump will be veteran Chante Soares.

“She’s been doing really well in her training, not having any problems at all,” O’Carroll said.

Jen Iasiello, one of the better weight throwers in the conference, will use her experience to lead the team in weight throw. Head coach Julie LaFreniere is highly anticipating the performance of newcomer Marissa Oliveira, who threw a high school personal best of 42 feet, one inch in the shot put. Iasiello and Oliveira will be the Minutewomen’s two key throwers for indoors.

The shorter distance events will be led by veteran Kristen Ford, who races everything from the 800 meters (her personal best is 2:15) to the mile. LaFreniere hopes that freshman cross-country standout Cuisle Kierans, a high school two-mile star, will find her niche in the 3000 meters.

Loren Donohue runs well anywhere from the 1000 – meter to the 3000 – meter race, according to LaFreniere, and cross country leader Alexis Anzelone will concentrate mainly on the 3000 and 5000 meters. Kate Markopoulos, coming off of an excellent cross-country season, will specialize in the 5000 meters, although since that race is not run at every meet, she also plans to race the mile and the 3000.

Tricia Silva and Amanda Dahlberg lead the long distance crew. Both are 10,000 – meter runners in the outdoor season, so for them the longer, the better. However, LaFreniere has big plans for Silva.

“We’re going to try to get her to run as fast as possible in the 3k, it’ll help with her 5k,” LaFreniere said. “She placed in the New England [Championship] meet in the 10k last year, distance is a real strength for her.”

Newcomer Jenna Elznic looks to compete later in the season. Elznic’s been having a rough time. After spending the summer injured, and sitting out the cross-country season, she’s now battling the flu. But LaFreniere still has hope for her.

“Once she fully recovers, she’s going to really help the team,” LaFreniere said.

Elznic’s specialties in high school were the 800 meters and the mile, in which she ran 2:15 and 5:07, respectively.

UMass track is on the rebound after devastating financial cuts. The teams were a force to be reckoned with in the 1990s, perennially ranking first or second in the A-10, rarely finishing third. Lately, though, local competition like Rhode Island and New Hampshire have been using a new pool of scholarship resources to recruit talent, and UMass has fallen farther behind them financially. But LaFreniere remains positive despite the team’s gradual slip in the conference and regional rankings.

“We’ve always been successful with the athletes that we had. Track and cross-country just have not been fortunate enough to receive the same type of benefits as a lot of other schools,” LaFreniere said.

And to LaFreniere, the important part of track is having a competitive mindset, fierce work ethic, and a good attitude.

“As long as they’re performing to their level, what they’re capable of doing at this point, that’s what really matters to me, to us,” she said. “Our goal has always been to be the best that we can. That hasn’t changed.”

After a one-year hiatus, the University of Massachusetts has reinstated the men’s indoor track squad this season.

“I’m ecstatic about it,” men’s coach Ken O’Brien said. “I want to see the kids who come to UMass have a complete track program. It means a lot in their preparation. We’re excited, and looking forward to getting started.”

The Minutemen return some outstanding runners from the 2001 season. In the decathlon and 500 meters, they will look to 2002 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Champion Jon O’Neil. As a sophomore in 2002, O’Neil placed third in the decathlon at the New England Championships with a personal-best 5,941 points. Joe McCormack, James Godinho, and Dave Falvey will lead the sprinters this season, and newcomer Tyler Simpson joins veteran Brandon Phillips in the hurdles and sprints.

“Tyler’s been training really well too, and Brandon has improved,” O’Carroll said. “They have been training consistently, but you really have to wait until the first meet to get a good idea of what they can do.”

The Minutemen will return to action for the first time in over a year on Jan. 24, 2004 with a meet at New Hampshire.