By Andrew Hershberger
Assistant Sports Editor

For a number of athletes on the track and field team, Saturday's meet at Ohio State will be a homecoming.

Nine women and three men on the team hail from the Buckeye State, including junior high jumper Shaun Guice.

"It's gonna be a weird atmosphere because it's an away meet, but it's like home for me," Guice said. "I'll probably have the most people there as far as family and friends. Wherever you're from, you want to go back there and be able to perform well, just win in front of familiar faces; that's a given."

Guice attended Lima High School where he was state champion in the indoor high jump in his junior and senior seasons. He was ranked third in the nation indoors and 10th outdoors. Guice said that he's competed on the Ohio State track several times in the past, but this is his first collegiate visit to Columbus.

This year against Indiana State, Guice won with a 7-1.00. His collegiate indoor best is a 7-5.00, which he jumped last year at the NCAA Championships.

Sophomore T'Nita Waters is from Columbus where she was a four-year letterwinner at Thomas Worthington High School.

"I'm really excited … kinda nervous," Waters said. "I'm gonna have a lot of family and friends there cheering me on."

Waters was named All-Ohio after becoming a state qualifier in the long jump her senior year in high school. This season, Waters has had success in the sprints, placing third in the 60 and 200-meter dashes against Indiana State.

At the Purdue Open on Jan. 12, Waters set a lifetime best in the long jump with a 5.69-meter performance.

Shanna Carter, a sophomore in sprints and jumps, won letters in track, basketball and volleyball at Gallia Academy in Gallipolis, Ohio. She was named all-league, all-district, all-region and all-state as a senior in track. Carter was also most valuable player in volleyball and best defensive player in basketball her senior year.

Needless to say, Carter is accustomed to success and has set goals for herself.

"I definitely have my expectations for the meet and I want to live up to them," Carter said. "I'm also excited to see my family again because that will be the last time I see them until after school's out."

Freshman distance runner Lindsay Zinn has family coming too, but she's staying low-key about the meet.

"All my family's coming and I get to go home afterwards," Zinn said. "Otherwise it's just like any other meet."

Zinn lives in West Chester, Ohio, where she attended Lakota East High School. She is the indoor state-record holder in the 1,600 and the 3,200. Zinn was named team captain her senior year, when she won MVP honors.

This season, Zinn has been a leader in the women's distance events. She placed third in the 800 and won the 1,600 against Indiana State. Earlier this season at the Purdue Open, Zinn won the 5,000 and set a personal best time in the event.

Other Purdue men from Ohio include senior Ryan Fitzpatric from Cincinnati, who competes with Guice in the high jump, and sophomore multi-eventer Kevin White from Dayton.

Ohio-born women include freshman multi-eventer Desiree Jones from Wilmington; sophomore runner Kim Jordan from Cleveland; freshman sprinters Amy Lang from Chargin Falls and Stevonne Spivery from Cincinnati; junior pole-vaulter Meghan McKenzie from Pickerington and senior distance runner Ann Steschsulte from Columbus Grove.

The Ohio State Invitational features Purdue and Ohio State from the Big Ten and seven other schools: Dayton, Morehouse, Kent State, Toledo, Kentucky State, Eastern Michigan and Central State. Ohio State represents the biggest threat to Purdue athletically.

A trio of Buckeye throwers, sophomores Dan Taylor and Alexis McCall and senior Katy Craig, highlight the team. Monday at Minneapolis, Taylor finished first in shot put and second in weights.

McCall finished identically, winning shot put and taking second in the weight throw to Craig, who won the event for the third straight meet.

Craig set a school record in the weight throw with a 68-3.75 at the Jan. 12 OSU Collegiate Duals. She also won the weight throw at the 2001 Big Ten Championships and placed sixth at the NCAA Championships, garnering All-American honors.

The Boilermakers will counter with three-time All-American Serene Ross in the weight throw and senior NCAA qualifier Nick Swathwood in the shot put. Ross has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships and is coming off a win in her event against Indiana State.

Swathwood has made provisional marks in every meet so far this year and looks to continue his success against the Buckeyes.

Sophomore weight thrower Keith McBride also looks to hold Ohio State at bay. He has also provisionally qualified in his event in all three meets this season.

The Boilermakers compete at 11 a.m. Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.