Dec. 2, 2005

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis track and field squads are set for their first meet of the season, as the Tigers and Lady Tigers will travel to Jonesboro, Ark., Saturday, Dec. 3, for the Early Bird Invitational, hosted by Arkansas State University.

The lone meet prior to a break for Christmas, the Early Bird Invitational will provide the U of M coaches with the opportunity to assess their squads before the teams reconvene in January.

"This will give our guys a chance to get on the track and compete and will give us (the coaches) an opportunity to see where we are right now," said men's head coach Glenn Hays. "We will have a long break after this weekend, but hopefully this will be a good meet and our kids will work hard and come back ready to go in January."

The U of M will look for strong performances this weekend out of a number of returners, as well as several newcomers.

On the men's side, 2005 C-USA Indoor Shot Put Champion, J.D. Erickson and NCAA Outdoor Regional qualifiers Brandon Winbush, Austin Hunter and Norbert Gulyas are expected to lead the Tigers into 2006.

For the women, Chen Edri, who was a 2005 Regional qualifier in both the high jump and javelin, and returning conference scorers Annette Uzoh, Daniele Riendeau and Sivan Aballi hope to continue their success in the upcoming season.

Several newcomers, including Stephon Greenlee, Tyler Frazier and Richard Swaby for the Tigers and Susan King, Eryka Morris and Nikole Jackson for the Lady Tigers will also look to make an impression this weekend.

The Early Bird Invitational is set to begin at approximately 10 a.m. Saturday morning at the Convocation Center on the ASU campus. Competition will run throughout the day.

Results and a recap will be available at gotigersgo.com following the meet Saturday evening.