Ohio men's track team member Matt Kinsey waited three years to get an invitation to the prestigious Penn Relays, a meet sponsored annually by the University of Pennsylvania.

The meet consists of hundreds of collegiate and high school teams from all over the United States, making it one of the two biggest relay meets in the country, Ohio head coach Elmore Banton said.

Thousands of participants will compete in events from morning to night.

"Imagine a track meet going from 9 a.m. Thursday and Friday, until 11 o'clock at night, all day, nonstop," Banton said. "Shoot a gun, the next race goes off. It's race, after race, after race, with no time in between, all day Saturday until about 6 p.m."

Hopeful competitors submit their times to Pennsylvania and wait for the school's invitation to attend the three-day meet, which starts today in Philadelphia.

Kinsey, whose specialty is the 400-meter hurdles, finally received one of those invitations this year. Unfortunately for him, he can't accept it because he has to take the National Teacher's Certification Exam this weekend.

As Kinsey was the only Ohio man invited, his absence means the men's team will not be represented at the relays.

The women, however, have two individuals and two relays competing in what Tisha Franklin said was "the biggest meet of the year as far as how many people go and run."

Two of those individuals running are Bobcats Melissa Converse, who will run the 3,000-meter dash, and Jacki Waller, who will run the 10,000.

Converse and Waller will run against 40 to 50 competitors each in the preliminaries of their events, which are scheduled for today. If either are among the 16 women who reach the consolation and championship finals, they will run again Friday.

The 400-meter relay and the 1,600-meter relay teams will compete against about 60 other teams Thursday afternoon. If Franklin, Tommi Crowley, Najah Mcfarland and Melody Royster can advance their 400 team to the finals, they will run Friday.

Franklin and Mcfarland then will team with Carrie Bayless and Sarah Yeager to try to move the 1,600 relay to the final in that event Saturday.

Ohio men and women who aren't running in Philadelphia will have this weekend to rest, Banton said.

"Basically, it's a weekend off for everyone else," he said. "We have some kids a little sick, some kids a little hurt, so it comes at a good time. It's before the last part of the season, before we get ready for the (Mid-American Conference) Championships."

Both teams will be back in action May 1 vs. Akron and Kent at Akron.