CLINTON, Iowa - Anticipation has been building up for some time as members of the Ashford University men's and women's track and field team hit the ground running tomorrow in Ames on the campus of Iowa State University for the Holiday Classic to kick off the indoor season.

Freshmen are ready to make their collegiate debuts, a host of NAIA National Qualifiers will be looking to duplicate their successes and others are looking to continue to make strides from a year ago.

AU Head Coach Tyson Graham will be traveling further west with sophomore Midwest Collegiate Conference pole vault champion Aaron Yerk of Belvidere, Ill., and freshman Austin Pozzi of Ladd, Ill., for multi's events at the two-day Nebraska-Kearney hosted Pre-Holiday Classic.

Assistant coaches Chris Adams and Sheena James will be overseeing the Saints in Ames at the Lied Recreation Center.

"We are really excited to not only see our freshmen perform, but perhaps even more anxious to see the improvement from our returners," Graham said. "We've been working real hard and I think it's hard to understand how important the first meet is for us when we've been training so long without competition."

Graham said he expects several school records and plenty of personal records to crumble in Ashford's winter debut.

On the men's side, Graham was able to preview several projected events that includes freshman Aleksander Jakobsen of Rock Island, Ill., competing in the 3,000-meter racewalk as the top seed.

Senior Franklin Barnes of Chicago was an indoor and outdoor NAIA National Qualifier last year and was an All-MCC indoor performer along with junior Keven Griffin (pole vault) of East St. Louis, Ill.

A trio of freshman throwers will be making their collegiate debuts in Joe Snyder of Winnebago, Ill., Spencer Touchie of Hometown, Ill., and Jaryd Prince of Clinton.

NAIA National Cross Country Qualifier Andrew Drinkall of Hooppole, Ill., will be looking to have similar success on the indoor track.

Indoor All-MCC sophomore jumper Natalie Solms of Kissimmee, Fla., returns to help lead the women. Fellow second-year runner Laura Minertz of Sterling, Ill., is coming off runner-up performances in the MCC outdoor 100-meter and 200-meter dashes from the spring.

Freshman jumpers Heather Ketcham of Byron, Ill., and Sarah Wenzel of Clinton are among a host of talented rookies ready for their collegiate indoor meet. Junior Erika Jakobsen of Rock Island, Ill., comes into her winter debut as the No. 3 seed in the 3,000-meter run.

AshfordAthletics.com will be traveling with team tomorrow to gather updates and get pictures of the Saints in action. Results can be found at Iowa State's athletic site, www.cyclones.com and Nebraska-Kearney's athletic site, www.lopers.com.