MANKATO, Minn. – Three months of preparation and a run of seven meets, starting in early December, have led up to this one weekend, the NSIC Indoor Track & Field Championships.

The Minot State men's and women's track and field teams are in Mankato, Minnesota, for the NSIC Championships, which get underway Friday with multi-events starting at 9:30 a.m. The individual events on Friday begin with the 5,000 meters at 11:30 a.m., and the pole vault and long jump at noon.

The Championships continue Saturday with the multi-events beginning at 9 a.m. and individual events beginning with the shot put and high jump at 1 p.m., and the mile at 1:30 p.m., on the track.

"I think there is a good energy in the group right now headed into competition," Minot State's first-year head coach Erik Stevens said. "There is always a little nervousness that accompanies these types of settings, but also a lot of excitement around the potential that lies ahead."

There is the potential to be an NSIC Champion, like junior Bailey Wride, who won the women's 600-meter title as a freshman and the 1,000-meter title last winter. Or the potential to finish in the top 3 in your event and earn All-NSIC honors.

All it takes is in one good weekend of competition, one great race, one big leap, or one memorable throw, which Minot State student-athletes have been building towards the past three months.

"The progression has been great to see," Stevens said of the team's growth this winter. "I think that training has been set up right to provide the closest possible peaking within the cycle and phase that we are in.

"I truly don't want a true or absolute "peak," with another season (outdoors) right behind this one."

But a season-effort this weekend means great results for the Beavers, who head into this weekend led by two-time NSIC champion, Bailey Wride, and teammates Summer Krebsbach and Peyton Tuhy, all of whom rank in the Top 10 in the NSIC in an event. Wride is No. 9 in the women's 1,000 meters (3:03.01), Krebsbach is No. 9 in the women's 200 (adjusted time of 25.26), and Tuhy is No. 10 in the men's 1,000 (adjusted time of 2:32.23).

While they all are notable for their performance throughout the season, Stevens said each and every Minot State student-athlete at the Championship in Mankato is prepared for a big weekend.

"I think anyone who is on this trip has the opportunity to surprise during the competition," he said. "I think we have a couple of very solid opportunities to put some individual hardware around some necks and put some points on the board as long as we approach everything as we have been and execute our plans."