PITTSBURGH, PA - This Friday the men's and women's Indoor Track teams head to Youngstown, OH to open their 25-26 season at the YSU Ice Breaker meet. 

For the men's team, the Cougars look to start this season on a high note in Ohio as compared to last Winter when they finished 11th of 11 in the PAC Championships. The women on the other hand are riding high from last Winter and look to carry that into the weekend as they finished 4th of 11 in the PAC Championship. 

After being name Head Coach in June, Burd has since made it known the year is about being dominant. "We must be dominant in everything we do. We are all a unit, and all the pieces have to fit correctly for us to have a successful year."

Burd went on to say even the outcome is domination. "Domination is the overall theme of this year. We must dominate in every aspect of the sport, not only in meets/performances but in practice and off the track as well. This is the forefront of our culture since I came to campus in June. This impacts the outcome because being dominant is the first step towards this program's success."

While being dominate is the goal for the team this year, the attitude carried through the season is an important one. Burd said, "Accept the challenge. Not every part of this will be fun and enjoyable but we must embrace the challenges and do our absolute best to push through them. This is completely different from last year with their being no Head Track Coach to instill this attitude."

Even though Burd is new to the team, he expects his team to still know the standards, "I expect the veterans to hold any first-years and transfers accountable to the same standard I hold everyone to. My veterans are my right-hand people."

It's the roster that has him the most excited for the season ahead, "I'm very excited about the roster we have. I was able to bring in a transfer in the Sprints/Relays; Damarius "DJ" Day who will absolutely be a difference maker for us and lay the foundation for years to come. We also brought back some key athletes from last year. I am really looking forward to see sophomore Najiyah Smith's progression. Along with first-year Julien Collyer."

Finally, Burd knows the season ahead is long, and once they start there's no slowing down, "I've preached since the beginning of the year that the schedule is long and often very very exhausting. Especially when we are tired from a season of meets and still must prepare for PAC Championships and certain athletes may be doing 3-4 events and we have to push through some of that pain and stress."

The season kicks off this Friday, December 5th, in Youngstown, OH when the runners take their marks at 3PM for the YSU Ice Breaker.