The Illinois men’s track and field team will look to recharge its collective batteries at the Lee Calhoun Invitational in Macomb, Ill., as the stretch run of the season looms.

The meet at Western Illinois will be comparatively light for Illinois. For the most part, the meet will consist of teams from smaller schools in Illinois and from conferences such as the Missouri Valley and the Horizon leagues.

“We are looking forward to this meet for two reasons: We won’t need to travel very far, and it gives our younger guys an opportunity to develop for us,” head coach Mike Turk said. “It will definitely be one of the more relaxed meets of the season for us, but that doesn’t mean that we are not still looking for some positive signs going forward.”

The 400-meter relay team will be back on the track for the Illini, but the squad will have to grow accustomed to a slew of lineup changes. Turk made the decision to replace junior Vanier Joseph, who has been battling soreness in his hamstring, with sophomore Jade Ackerman. The Rantoul, Ill., native, who typically runs 200-meters, is no stranger to the 4×100, as he ran the third leg for the Big Ten Champion relay team last season.

Other lineup changes include alterations to the relay order, as junior Julian Smith will lead off while sophomore DJ Zahn will anchor.

The middle two legs will consist of sophomore Brandon Stryganek in the second spot and Ackerman in his old spot in the third leg.

“The great thing about a meet like this is that it gives us a chance to implement different personnel in light of changes in order to see how they work for us,” Turk said. “This is the lineup we expect for the next few meets, so we need them to step it up, even in a meeting that is not of huge importance for us.”

The addition of Ackerman was met with open arms by the other members on the relay squad.

“We’re all pretty excited to have a guy like Jade who knows what it takes to win in the 4×1, and we are definitely ready to hit our stride,” Stryganek said.

Along with hoping alignment changes to the relay squad have positive repercussions, the Illini look to continue the development of some of the younger runners at the meet — especially in the long-distance events. Most of the top long-distance runners will not compete over the weekend, as they will use the off week to prepare for the long-distance-exclusive Mt. Sac Relays next weekend.

Redshirt freshman Paul Zeman and true freshman Will Brewster will be running the 1,500 meters for the second time in the outdoor season. In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, redshirt freshman Sam Telfer looks for his second individual title in the event on the outdoor season.

“We’re always looking for the next guy to step up big for us down the road,” Turk said. “Some of our young, inexperienced runners have a lot of talent, and we just want to get them more and more race experience in a low-intensity meet like this.”

Dan can be reached at [email protected].