Youth and inexperience have not hindered the Lady Lions’ track and field team in the outdoor season this year, but now the true test comes at Truman State University for the MIAA conference championship.

On April 27, the Lady Lions traveled to Pittsburg State University for the Bill Williams Invitational.

The young athletes as well as the upperclassmen were able to try and better themselves one last time before the conference meet.

Danee Jones set a provisional mark in the hammer at 175, which puts her in a nice position for the national championships.

Tasha Cook and Ashley McClelland took time off of their 400-meter hurdle times.

Cook also improved in her times in the 100- and 200-meter dashes as well as finishing third in the 100-meter hurdles.

Melissa Horn improved her best jump of the year to 5-2, placing second in the high jump after struggling for some time because of new techniques and competition.

Iashia Castle finished second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.40.

Mary Garrett did not attend the Bill Williams, instead she competed in the Drake relays in Des Moines, Iowa.

It was sort of a homecoming for Garrett, because she is originally from Iowa, and she competed one year at Drake when she attended high school there.

She competed in the 400-meter hurdles placing eighth with a time of 1:00.24.

It was her first time competing in several weeks due to the fact that her shin was bothering her.

On Friday and Saturday, the Lady Lions travel to Truman State University to compete in the MIAA conference championships.

Head coach Patty Vavra thinks it’s a long trip but a good place to go to for the conference championship.

The last time the team competed for the MIAA championship there was in 1998.

“We’re looking forward to the meet, I think our expectations, we’re trying to stay very positive with our expectations,” Vavra said.

“What I think that we have to do is look to the future. At the same time I think you’ll see some of our upperclassman have some good performances.”

Vavra is not looking for the championship title itself for the team, but thinks her upperclassmen have a good chance to attain All-Conference honors.

The reason she doesn’t think the team will achieve the overall title is because though the team has depth, it is just too young and inexperienced.