CEDAR FALLS - Figuratively speaking, the University of Northern Iowa softball team has been knocking down Missouri Valley Conference fences all season.

This weekend, the Panthers hope to truly hit one out of the park.

After securing the No. 3 seed for the MVC's postseason tournament with a 2-1, 9-1 sweep of Drake Saturday, UNI (34-21 overall, 15-11 MVC) has a first-round bye in the battle for an NCAA Tournament berth that commences Thursday in Peoria, Ill. The Panthers play the winner of the Missouri State-Bradley game at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the single-elimination showdown.

"We knew that we needed to win two out of the three (at Drake) to solidify third place in the league and the third seed in the tournament, and our kids answered the challenge in an outstanding way on Saturday," coach Ryan Jacobs said Monday during UNI's weekly coaches' luncheon.

"It was one of our best days of the season as far as how our kids were locked in and intense. It was really fun to see."

With no mid-week games, Jacobs gave his team some extra time off last week. That, he said, seemed to put a bounce in their step at Drake.

"We took four days in a row off for them to just kind of go and get rested up, get their studies taken care of and hopefully de-stress them a little bit because of the long season and how many games we've played in a row.

"We only practiced one day. They looked fresh, they looked sharp … it was great to see our kids play that way, especially against Drake, who we know well and they know us well and we knew it was gonna be a battle."

And even though UNI dropped a 2-1, 10-inning contest to Drake Sunday when its backup players saw most of the action, Jacobs believes his team is in a good place as it returns to the MVC tourney for the first time since the 2001 season.

"They're playing together, they're confident … They're so excited to be in the conference tournament for the first time, and I'm very confident in this group that they're not gonna be satisfied just getting there. They want to make a statement and show where our program is going.

"We're really excited to get going this week. I'm going to give them two more days off just to see if that continues that streak of getting them rested up and making them sharp."

TRACK AND FIELD: Great weather brought out the best in UNI's track and field teams during a quadrangular meet at Nebraska Saturday.

"It was a very competitive meet, and our kids had a lot of fun and competed extremely well," said coach Travis Geopfert.

Freshman Kayla Brungardt won the 400 meter race. Holly Hosch ran a 2:12.66 for a personal best in the 800, and Caedryn Schrunk ran a personal-best 4:35.12 in the 1,500 to climb into UNI's all-time top five. Carly Olsen was right behind in 4:35.7. Emily Prinsen threw 143 feet in the javelin to take second place.

On the men's side, UNI had a parade of athletes meet NCAA Regional qualifying marks or improve marks they had already established.

Terrance Reid ran 46.68 in the 400 and less than an hour later ran 21.17 in the 200. Both marks are the best in the Missouri Valley this season. Ehi Oamen went 7 feet, 1/2 inch in the high jump, and Marcin Kazubowski threw the javelin 215-11 for a personal best and a qualifying mark. He defeated two Wichita State throwers to whom he lost in last year's MVC meet. Phil Hanson improved his pole vault season-best to 17-1.

In the 400 hurdles, Cory Goos turned a 51.10 and Greg Offerman a 51.22, season bests for both.

"Overall it was a great day," said Geopfert, whose team will take a limited squad to Wisconsin for a final tuneup before the MVC Outdoor meet in Terre Haute, Ind., in two weeks.