The University of Northern Iowa Track and Field team will host the 2005 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships this weekend. Action will take place this Friday through Sunday at the Mark Messersmith Track Complex on the UNI campus. Panther coach Chris Bucknam feels the Valley meet will be as good as any conference meet in the country. He says it’s a first-class meet with one of the top conferences in the country. Wichita State has dominated the men’s portion of late, winning the last three years. Bucknam expects the Shockers to once again be the team to beat. He says his team won’t lay down and will give it a great shot.UNI will be shorthanded going into Friday’s meet as they’ll be without the services of two-time All-American Cody Eichmeier. Eichmeier, a standout sprinter and long jumper for the Panthers, came down with appendicitis last Saturday.