WICHITA, Kan.- The Wichita State Track & Field Team will travel to the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships this weekend, beginning on Sat., Feb. 23 and continuing on Feb. 24.

"Everyone in our program is really excited about this week's Missouri Valley Conference Championships," said head coach Steve Rainbolt. "It's going be a tough championship. It's going to be a really fun meet."

The Shocker women enter the meet ranked No. 19 in the USTFCCA poll, their highest ranking in school history. As a result, coaches around the league voted the Shockers as the pre-meet favorites. However, Rainbolt has his sights on No. 17 Indiana State.

"I have to believe that Indiana State will be the favorite on both the men's and women's side, " Rainbolt said.  " But I think we can be strong challengers on both sides. Our women's team is remarkable and really terrific.  Their women's team is remarkable and really terrific."

Four Missouri Valley Conference Champions and two All-MVC athletes from the 2012 season return to the UNI Dome to help the Shocker women try to win the MVC Championship that eluded them by less than three points a year ago.

"Across the board we have lots of really good athletes on our team that are really ready to compete," Rainbolt said. "I think our women are really spirited about trying to win a championship."

WSU's women's team has won the MVC Indoor Team Championship in two of the last three seasons. The seniors on this Shocker team know how to win at this level.

"It's better this year because there's more pressure," senior Shamoya Pruitt said. "We don't have the seniors to take the pressure off of us. It's going to make the competition more serious for the seniors this year."

While Pruitt embraces the pressure of competition, fellow senior Tomas Cotter uses a different strategy for his races.

"I never really make it a pressure situation," Cotter said. "We always just have fun. I think that it's really important not to put too much pressure on each other. We just have a good time and usually run well."

Cotter won the MVC Men's 3,000m Indoor Championship in 2012. He looks to add three more MVC Championships to his resumé when he competes in the mile, 3,000m and 5,000m runs this weekend.

"On the men's side, Tomas Cotter is our returning champion that we're really excited about," Rainbolt said. "I think he can go up there and have remarkable success in the three races he's running."

For Cotter and the rest of the senior class this meet will be their final visit to the UNI Dome, a place where they have competed for an MVC Championship in each of their years as Shockers.

"I'll never get this opportunity back," Cotter said. "I'm definitely going to try to defend my 3k (championship) and hope to score big points and help the team win."

Like Cotter, hurdler Cory Beenken looks to end his MVC indoor career on a high note. The same high note that it started with.

"A conference championship would be nice," Beenken said. " I got it the first year I got here, so getting it my last year would be perfect."

Beenken has scored points for the Shockers in the 60m hurdles at all three of his past MVC Indoor meets. He hopes to achieve this feat once again in his final trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa.

"It's kind of bittersweet," Beenken said. "It's sad that it's my last one, but I get to start the next chapter of my life so that's cool. It will be nice to hang out with the seniors and enjoy this last one."

The Shockers have won five MVC Indoor Team Championships during the Rainbolt era (four women's titles, and one men's title). Follow all the action as Wichita State tries to bring home Rainbolt's sixth and seventh championships by clicking here.

Watch the above video for more soundbites from Rainbolt, Pruitt, and more.

-Wichita State-