The hard work that five sprinters have put in this season has paid off. The ISU sprinters will be competing in two different events at the Midwest Regional meet in College Station, Texas, this weekend.

Ryan Boyington and Justin Sherman have both qualified in the 400-meter hurdles. The men’s 1,600-meter relay team, composed of Jerod Torrey, Boyington, Elijah Braimah and Jared Graham will also be running at the regional meet.

This NCAA Midwest Regional meet has all of the top talent from the Midwest. The fastest times at this meet will then compete in the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas. Head coach Steve Lynn said both events have different numbers of competitors at the championships.

“The top five times at regionals will automatically qualify, while the best three relay times automatically qualify for nationals,” Lynn said.

“After the automatic qualifiers are in, [the NCAA] then takes the top times of the people/teams that aren’t in already. There will be around 26 to 28 people in the individual events and 16 to 18 different relay teams at nationals.”

Torrey, Graham and Boyington all have experience at the outdoor Midwest regional. Torrey and Graham were members of the 400-meter and 1,600-meter relay teams in 2003. Boyington was part of the 1,600-meter team that placed seventh last season — just missing out on nationals.

Boyington said this year’s team is running better than last year and is ready to run. Torrey agreed and said this year, the result will be different.

“Last year, we were just happy to be [at regionals]. We really didn’t know what to expect,” Torrey said. “This year we expect to move on to nationals. We are all running at a high level.”

Lynn agreed with Boyington and Torrey. He said Boyington, Torrey and Graham’s experience will indeed pay dividends.

“They now have the confidence they can run well,” Lynn said. “They will help Elijah [Braimah], although he has run in big meets before.”

Braimah is a freshman and said he is excited at the chance to run at the Midwest Regionals.

“Since we made regionals, it really means a lot to represent the team at regionals,” Braimah said. “Though it would mean a lot more if we go to nationals.”

Lynn is also excited about the 400 hurdles. He said since Boyington and Sherman have been working out together, it has made both athletes better.

“Both are determined to do well by working out and pushing each other,” Lynn said. “The only difference is that Justin likes to get out fast, while Ryan uses his strength in the 400 hurdles.”

Sherman said regionals will have great competition, but he gets to see good competition every day.

“Running with Ryan takes the pressure off,” Sherman said. “Running with Ryan is like running against the conference best in practice everyday.”

Boyington also said working out with Sherman has helped in the 400 hurdles.

“It has worked out good,” Boyington said. “It is nice to have someone in practice running right beside you.”