This weekend marks the last time Jeremy Mims will walk into the Big 12 Championships as a Jayhawk. The Iowa City, Iowa senior will lead the Kansas Track and Field Team into Lincoln, Neb., today. For Mims and other seniors, this marks the last opportunity for victory at an indoor conference level.

“There's a few things that I still want to accomplish. The past years haven't gone as well as I have liked,” Mims said. “But it's also been a great experience.”

The middle distance runner ranks third in the Big 12 in the 600-meter run and fifth in the 800-meter run. Although he is focusing on the Big 12 Championships this weekend, Mims said that he would keep nationals in the picture as well.

“It's still on my mind, but I'm not going to let that get in the way,” Mims said. "My overall goal goes beyond conference.”

Mims said that the team received a boost of confidence after former coach Bob Timmons spoke to them on Sunday. Timmons coached the track and field team at KU from 1966 to 1988. He spoke of the importance of the conference championships.

“That was always the place to get a p.r. (personal record),” Timmons said. “And if everybody runs that way, then you have a chance to win the conference.”

Mims said he considered the speech beneficial.

“It helped us out and made us realize that we have a great history here at KU, and we're definitely headed back in that direction,” Mims said.

Above all things, the Jayhawks think that mental preparation plays a large role in the championships, coach Stanley Redwine said.

“I hope that everyone is going into the championships with the attitude to win every event,” he said.