CEDAR FALLS - One of the greatest shows in Missouri Valley Conference athletics is under the UNI-Dome big top this weekend.

The MVC Indoor Track and Field Championships will be hosted by the University of Northern Iowa Saturday and Sunday. The field includes some of the country's top athletes in their respective disciplines, not to mention a pair of Panther teams with designs on championship hardware.

"It should be a great weekend," said head coach Chris Bucknam. "If you want to see a great athletic event, take the time to watch an unbelievable track meet and an unbelievable athletic event.

"There are some outstanding athletes and Olympic-caliber athletes who will be competing at this meet, along with a great group of university athletes who might not aspire to be Olympians or have that ability, but are going to put a great effort forth this weekend."

Physically, Bucknam said his men's and women's teams are ready for their championship season.

"We know our kids are physically ready," said Bucknam. "We know from a mental standpoint what we have to do. The question of winning championships is, are they emotionally ready to compete?

"When it comes to human performance, which is what we're all about, that emotional aspect is the critical final piece. We hope we're able to have our kids to that crescendo, to that final point because, make no mistake, the Missouri Valley championships and the NCAA Championships are our goals."

UNI will likely be favored to win its ninth straight men's indoor title, while the women's squad could make a run at a title, too.

"We think we will contend for championships," said Bucknam.

Bucknam said the Valley has settled on the UNI-Dome as the indoor meet's permanent home for at least the immediate future.

"The league and the coaches came to the realization that the Dome is one of the best facilities in the country and certainly the elite facility in the league," said Bucknam.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: UNI continued to play like the young team it is last week as the Panthers (11-15 overall, 7-8 MVC) endured a humbling loss to Creighton, then bounced back Sunday with a thrilling victory over preseason league favorite Drake.

After Thursday's 69-51 homecourt loss to the Bluejays, coach Tanya Warren's pregame message Sunday was simple.

"Prior to the game, I wrote everything we wanted to do strategy-wise on the board … make sure everybody understood what it was we wanted to get done and they did," Warren explained. "For the first time all year, I erased our game plan on the board, and after that I simply put up, 'Passion, poise, purpose and a will to persevere.'

"They went out and displayed the four 'Ps' almost perfectly."

Jacqui Kalin poured in a career-high 27 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer, but Warren said the contributions of sophomore Nicole Clausen were no less critical.

"Really to me, the unsung hero all year long for us has been Nicole Clausen," said Warren. "She had 16 (points) and her first double-double with 10 boards. She's really starting to expand her game. Not only can she shoot it, but she's really giving us something on the defensive end and she's really starting to rebound for us. That's huge for us."

UNI plays at Evansville and Southern Illinois this week.

WRESTLING: After a strong finish to its regular season, the Panthers have a week to rest before the NCAA West Regional, where they will try to qualify individually for the NCAA Championships.

Sunday's strong performance during a 44-6 dual win over North Dakota State set UNI's final dual record at 7-5-1 with all five losses to teams ranked seventh nationally or higher.

"(Sunday) was probably the best performance we've had to date," said head coach Brad Penrith. "I don't get up here and say, 'Hey, this is a good team and we have a real positive future.' But yesterday, we physically kicked the living tar out of them. That's the kind of attitude we need to take into the regional in two weeks."

The Panthers' lineup is set for the regional, except for 149 pounds where Nick Pickerell (18-7) and Charlie Ettelson (13-8) will have a best-of-three wrestle-off this week.

WOMEN'S TENNIS: UNI won two of three duals during a tiring weekend.

Friday night, the Panthers blitzed South Dakota State, 7-0. Saturday, they defeated Chicago State in a 4-3 match that didn't end until after midnight.

"It was one of weirdest matches I've been associated with," said coach Satchin Kirtane, whose team won the doubles point and the 4-5-6 singles matches to build a 4-0 lead.

"The match was over in about 45 minutes."

Sunday morning, a tired UNI bunch lost a close 4-3 decision to undefeated Eastern Illinois.

"Every year we lose one of these 4-3 matches at the beginning of the year," said Kirtane, whose team is 6-2 overall. "I think it's a good experience for us. The team was really disappointed. They knew we're better than Eastern Illinois. We just didn't put it together the way we should have."

The Panthers travel to Lincoln, Neb., to play Air Force Saturday and Nebraska Sunday.

BASEBALL: There are 1-3 road trips that leave a sour taste in a team's mouth. That wasn't the case for UNI after its season-opening series at Centenary.

"We actually played pretty well at times, and we saw a lot of positive things," said coach Rick Heller.

"The MVP of our trip might have been our bus driver. We went through that ice storm Wednesday night to southern Missouri. It was unbelievable. He white-knuckled it for three hours. What a tremendous job he did."

When UNI got to Shreveport, La., the Panthers planned to get their first outdoor practice in before they opened the season, but heavy rains washed out that plan. Friday's pregame batting practice was also cancelled.

"It wasn't a great situation for us stepping out of the Dome, but the kids competed hard," said Heller.

UNI struggled offensively in the middle of the lineup, but Brandon Douglas went 11-for-16 and was part of a defensive effort Heller said was outstanding at times. The Panthers also got strong pitching.

Heller said all-Missouri Valley outfielder Deric Manrique, who seriously sprained an ankle early in the opening game, may miss as much as two weeks. The Panthers play at Arkansas-Little Rock this weekend.

Contact Doug Newhoff at (319) 291-1467 or doug.newhoff@wcfcourier.com