The men’s track team will travel to California this weekend to face California-Berkeley in a dual meet for the first time in over 50 years.

The last time Illinois and Berkeley faced off in a dual meet was in April 1953. The final score of the meet was 83-39, with Illinois prevailing. But according to head coach Wayne Angel, this time around the meet will be much closer.

“They’re a really good team in terms of depth and talent,” Angel said.

Although Illinois and Berkeley are similar in that they both have depth, the events in which they excel differ.

Berkeley’s focus will be on field events. Three athletes will be the team’s main competition for the Illini this weekend. Seniors Rhuben Williams and Tony Mirnada will compete in the shot put, hammer and discus and plan to give Illinois’ Nick Byrnes and Kurt Glesne a tough time. As a junior, Williams was an All-American and just last weekend, Mirnada took second place in the discus at the Florida Relays.

While the field events highlight the meet for the Golden Bears, the Illini’s middle distance and distance runners hope to bring in big points. Sophomore All-American Zach Glavash hopes to win the 800-meter run, while junior Tim Hobbs has a good chance of taking first in the 1,500-meters. At the Florida Relays, Hobbs finished second in the event.

California freshman brothers Alex and Andy McClary hope to give Glavash and Hobbs some trouble. At the Florida Relays, Alex McClary ran the 1,500m in 3:51.50, while Hobbs ran it in a personal best time of 3:47.22. Andy McClary clocked in at 1:54.78, while Glavash did not run in the event. Glavash’s personal best is 1:47.79.

Although Illinois will face off with Berkeley, the Illini’s main focus will still be on qualifying for regionals. The only way to advance to the NCAA Championship meet in June is first to qualify for the Regional Championship and finish in the top five.

“We want to get as many regional qualifiers as possible so we’ll be in good position going into the Big Ten Championship. Then we won’t have to worry about qualifying, and we’ll just worry about the task at hand,” Angel said.