The NCAA Mideast Regional for Western’s track and field team is May 29-30 in Louisville, Ky., and many qualifiers for the Toppers have split-squad meets to thank for competing at the regional level.

Although the absolute best athletes perform well anywhere, anytime, players and coaches alike agree that some advantage lies within facing stout competition in an event-specific environment.

“When you compete against better athletes, you’re going to perform,” junior sprinter Gavin Smellie said. “There’s a higher chance to qualify when you’re at these meets.”

Smellie posted a regional-qualifying time in the 100-meter dash and led off the men’s 4×100 team at the Florida Relays in early April.

“There are better distance meets, and there are better sprint meets,” Western track coach Erik Jenkins said. “You send them to the meet with the best environment to set qualifying marks”

Western split more than once this outdoor season, sending a select groups to the Stanford Invitational and Florida Relays while the rest of the team competed at the Alabama Relays and APSU Invitational.

Alabama and APSU hosted the same events as Stanford and Florida, but the value of sending top athletes to different locations lies in past meets, Jenkins said.

“Everyone is trying to achieve at a high level,” Jenkins said. “Teams will send their top runners to compete at these meets every year. You know what to expect going into to those meets.”

Results proved favorable at split-squad meet weekends this outdoor season.

Western posted a combined total of seven NCAA regional-qualifying marks when it split, not including the weekend when throwers and runners went separate ways because of the cancellation of the Hilltopper Relays.

Jenkins said the warmer weather at Florida and Texas makes for a good sprinting environment, and the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Penn., have earned a reputation for qualifying athletes.

Junior Kellie Morrison and the rest of the women’s 4×400 team qualified with a relay of 3 minutes, 37.43 seconds at Florida despite finishing seventh overall.

“You’re going in with the mindset that you’re going to qualify,” Morrison said. “They’re going to push the pace and you’re expected to keep up.”

Most collegiate meets aren’t scored, but Jenkins said he would sacrifice scoring an overall finish at a meet to give his athletes “the best chance possible to qualify.”

The competition is stiff and the environment intense. The rewards, however, are worth it for track and field teams running split-squad meets.