ITHACA, N.Y. - The Syracuse University track and field teams will kick off the 2009-2010 indoor season at the Cornell Relays on Saturday, Dec. 5. The day's events are set to begin in Cornell's Barton Hall at 10 a.m.

The men's team will return to action after finishing fourth at the 2009 BIG EAST Indoor Championship-- its best conference finish in 17 years. Also last season, the men's squad was represented by graduated senior Ramon Sosa and junior Jarret Eaton, a pair of sprinters, at the NCAA Championship. Eaton looks to lead the Orange this season after earning a first-place, NCAA-Provisional mark of 7.24 on Mar. 8 at the IC4A Indoor Championship in Boston to qualify for the National Championship.

Among Saturday's competitors is junior Evan Stivala, who will participate in four events, including the 60m high hurdles and the 4 x 400m race. Stivala placed 10th overall at last season's conference championship. Five freshmen will also appear in Saturday events. Freshmen Tyler McCully, Keith Bull, Frank Taylor, Will Watson, and Ima Edomwonyi will a make their Orange debut.

For the women, last year's team closed the season with a third place tie (shared with Temple University), matching the best finish at the ECAC Championship under head coach Chris Fox's tutelage. Sophomore Flings Owusu-Agyapong and junior Uhunoma Osazuwa, both of whom will be returning this season, earned first place finishes and NCAA-Provisional qualifying standards to help lead the Orange.

The Orange will look to junior Lareea Chisholm and graduate student Nana Sang-Bender for leadership on Saturday, as the day's lineup is set to include eight fresh faces for the Syracuse women. Last season, Chisholm earned fourth place in the 60-meter dash at the Cornell Relays with a BIG EAST Championship-qualifying time of 7.81. In addition, Sang-Bender took eighth place at the BIG EAST Championship with an ECAC-qualifying time of 4:31.79 in the 1,500-meter run.

After this weekend's meet, the Syracuse track and field teams will not be back in action until after the holidays, when they will host the annual Syracuse Welcome Back on Saturday, Jan. 16