KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan track and field team splits up this weekend, heading to the Samford Invitational in Birmingham, Ala., and Grand Valley State's annual Big Meet.

At the Birmingham CrossPlex some of the Broncos will get a chance to compete against national competition at the site of the 2016 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.

"Samford is Hosting the NCAA's down there and we thought it would be a good experience if we qualify someone this year or next year," said head coach Kelly Lycan. "It's also a 300-meter track and the MAC Champions is on a 300 track so we have been trying to get them more experience."

WMU will face stiff competition in the 200-meter dash at Samford on Friday. The Broncos will run Sarita Dotson, Naiomi Dulaney and Ayian Gaines. The trio all rank in the top 20 in the MAC with Dotson currently boasting the fourth-fastest time at 24.50 seconds.

Western Michigan competes in a variety of events on Saturday including the 60-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles, 400-meter dash, mile run, 800-meter run, 3,000-meter run and the 4x400-meter relay.

The Broncos heading up to GVSU for the Big Meet will also get experience on a 3000-meter track.

"We basically have about two weeks before the MAC Champions, so people are tying to get on that MAC list and qualify," Lycan added. "There's a lot of competition for those spots."