If last week's season opener for the UTEP track team was about laying down a marker, Friday and Saturday's Cherry & Silver Track and Field Invitational in Albuquerque is about pushing that marker closer to where it needs to be for the postseason.
The Conference USA Championships are a month away and coach Mika Laaksonen is putting pressure on his team to start pointing that way.
"This weekend we'll find out much more about the team," Laaksonen said. "The first one got the ball rolling. Now we need to see some big performances from people we expect to perform at a high level.