Even though the Drake Relays is one of the biggest annual track and field meets in the country, athletes from the ISU track and field teams will also be competing in two other meets this weekend.

The teams are separating once again to attend the Kip Janvrin Open in Indianola, Iowa, on April 26, 2013 and the Payton Jordan Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., on April 28.

The Kip Janvrin Open is an annual meet hosted by Simpson College, roughly an hour from Ames and about half an hour from Des Moines, where others on the team will be competing that day at the Drake Relays.

“I’m going with Betsy Saina and Meaghan Nelson to California where they will be running at Stanford,” said ISU coach Corey Ihmels. “We will have a lot of the kids do some relays at Drake and some of our developmental kids who don’t get an event at Drake will run at Simpson College.”

This will be the second weekend in a row the team will head to three different meets to compete.

“We had a lot of good things happen to us and several personal bests across the board last weekend,” Ihmels said. “It was nice to have a solid time last weekend and not have to worry about the weather and get some good competition in.”

Saina won the 10,000-meter race last year at the Payton Jordon Invite while also breaking the collegiate all-time 10k record set by former Cyclone Lisa Uhl.

“When I got to Iowa State, they trained me from a 5k to a 10k runner and it’s something I love doing,” Saina said. “I like both races, but the 10k is really exciting for me and I feel stronger in it.”

Uhl will also be competing in the 10,000-meter run this weekend for Nike.

The Kip Janvrin Open will start with the men and women’s 10,000-meter run at 5:20 p.m. on April 26. The women’s 100-meter dash will kick off the Payton Jordan Invitational at 2 p.m. on April 28.

The Payton Jordon Invitational will be the last meet before the Cyclones head to Waco, Texas, to compete in the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships from May 3-5.