By J.R. Dobner
Staff Writer

Call them newcomers. Just don’t call them freshmen.

"We have some remarkable freshmen but, as I was saying the other day, they’re not really freshmen," men’s track and field coach Mike Poehlein said. "They’re more like newcomers because they’re competing so well right now."

Several freshmen on the Purdue men’s track and field team — namely distance runner Robert Heise, sprinter and hurdler Prentice Stovall and jumper Shaun Guice — have been impressive in early meets at Indianapolis and at home in the Purdue Open.

The freshmen know that they will be an integral part of the team this season and will be counted on to come through with some points. For that reason, they don’t really feel like freshmen.

"Everybody has accepted us with open arms," Guice said. "I don’t think that we really have that freshman label on us. With myself and Prentice and Robert, the freshmen score a lot of points. That’s set up an atmosphere for us to be accepted with open arms."

Guice and Stovall are also roommates this year and have helped each other through the transition from high school to college life and athletics. Poehlein has noticed that they have a way of pushing each other to do their best.

"We push each other all the time when we’re at meets," Guice said. "We keep each other hyped up, not only at the meets but all the time. It’s a big transition coming to college, so we’re always looking to keep each other up."

Stovall was faced with less of a transition than Guice. Stovall is from Lafayette, and Heise is from West Lafayette.

"Heise and Stovall are competing as well as anybody in the country right now," Poehlein said. "And it’s a great story because they’re both local kids."

The newcomers, along with the rest of the men’s indoor track and field team, look to protect their home turf today against Indiana State. In this meet, which begins at 4:30 p.m. in Lambert Fieldhouse, the men’s scores and women’s scores are combined to determine the winner.

Poehlein calls the meet an "interesting concept" for their sport.

The teams will be competing for a traveling trophy, the Edmonds Cup, that has been on the line each time the Boilers have faced Indiana State. So far, the trophy has resided in West Lafayette since its inception.

The meet will also feature the 12th-annual "Cram Lam" event in which fans are challenged to pack Lambert Fieldhouse. The first 100 fans get T-shirts while the first 150 get rally towels. A video game contest will end with the winner receiving a Sega DreamCast.

Poehlein thinks his team will be triumphant but did note that Indiana State is high in the national rankings and should give the Boilers an early-season challenge.