With the addition of women’s track and field, the coaches are trying to find athletes to help strengthen the roster.

“Right now we need to fill in some events,” said Paul Longano, assistant cross country and track and field coach. “It’s a big campus. There’s got to be a few decent ones.”

In attempt to increase the number of athletes on the roster, there will be an informational session regarding tryouts for the 2012 season Sept. 28 at 3 p.m. in the Founders Room at the NKU Soccer Stadium.

There has been a club team on campus, but this will be the first year for a team funded by the athletic department and that is NCAA sanctioned. The team can meet the minimum requirement of 14 athletes, but the coaches are looking to build a team of about 40 athletes.

“Whenever you are starting from scratch, there will never be an easy time,” Longano said. “It will be tough for 2011, but we will be fine in 2012.”

All currently-enrolled students interested in joining the team must attend this meeting to be considered for the 2012 season. Students must bring a pen, a copy of their fall class schedules, a proof of a physical conducted within the past six months and proof of health insurance.

Students should print and fill out the tryout forms to bring to the meeting as well. All forms can be found on the NKU Athletics website at http://nkunorse.com/tryouts.

The team is set with long distance runners due to the existence of a cross country team. The coaches are looking for athletes to compete in the sprints and in the field events. According to Longano, the team is “starting from square one in those areas.”

According to Longano, students that have a background in track are preferred, as the team not only wants to have fun, but it also strives to be competitive. Experienced athletes will help the team as it faces tough competition.

“We will have a fairly competitive schedule,” Longano said. “We will compete against D-I universities since that is the direction we apparently are headed in.”
For more information, contact Longano at longanot1@nku.edu or by phone at 859-572-7958.