This weekend it will be cold and snowy outside but inside the Leverone Field House the climate will be pristine in anticipation of the 3,000 athletes arriving to compete in the 28th annual Dartmouth Relays.
Every year the College hosts the Relays to kick off the men's and women's indoor track season. Athletes are able to compete in high school, college and open divisions during the large and prestigious three-day meet.
Also, the relays are a large sponsor event for the Dartmouth track and field teams. Dartmouth athletes will be working at the Relays Friday and Saturday -- before competing in all events Sunday.
The final day of the Relays -- Sunday -- features the college athletes and includes events open to any other participants. The entire Big Green track and field team will be participating with most people doing all their events.
Men's Captain Jim Tuxbury said the team should fare well in the relays this Sunday.
"The competition isn't as intense as we'll see later on," he said. "This is just to see where everyone is at and get into the competition."
Men's Track and Field Head Coach Barry Harwick said this Sunday's events should be a good gauge of the team's current fitness level before the training begins for the heptagonal championships in February.
Last year the Dartmouth women's team came in second at the Heps while the men's team racked up a third place finish.
Harwick refused to make predictions about this year's championship except to comment on the strength of this year's team.
"We'd be one of the schools challenging for the title," he said.
Tuxbury was more optimistic about this year's team.
"Our team is probably one of the best balanced teams I've seen since I've come here," he said. "We are strong in all events across the board."
Tuxbury said the team should make a good run in the heptagonals.
"This year I think we have an excellent chance of winning if things go our way," he said.
The captain of the women's team was unavailable for comment last night.
Dartmouth men's track and field head coach Harwick will be competing in the 1,500-meter race while field events head coach Carl Wallin will show his form in the shot put.
Harwick said he ran the 3,000-meter race last year and came in first in his age group.
"I decided to try a different event this year," he said. "In my age group, I should be one of the top runners."
Saturday features all the high school-division events. More than 1,000 athletes are expected to compete with the many New Hampshire powerhouse track schools attending.
Besides providing an opportunity for the Track and Field teams to return to form, the Relays are used by some of the top international competitors and Olympic hopefuls to train for the indoor season. The Relays are an Olympic trials qualifying meet.
This year the Big Green will host several international Olympic stars, according to a Sports Information press release.
Bruny Surin of Canada -- who set a Relays record last year -- will be returning to run in the 55-meter dash. Surin was a member of the Canadian 4x100 team that won the gold in the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.
Also, Natalia Lissovskaia of Russia, the world record holder and former Olympic shot put champion, and Iouri Sedykh, the world record holder and former Olympic hammer champion will be conducting a free clinic Saturday morning and competing on Sunday.
