The ISU women’s track and field team will see plenty of warm weather and tough competition as it progresses through the weekend. With three meets scheduled, the Beach Invite will provide exceptional competition for athletes.

Hosted by Cerritos College in Norwalk, Calif., the Cyclones will make a stop Saturday for their third competition of the week. With some of the athletes competing in the Mt. SAC Relays and the Brian Clay Invite, athletes have their hands full this weekend with competition.

Sprints coach Nate Wiens said because of the Olympic year, athletes all over the country have stepped up their training and in-race competition.

“It’s an Olympic year, so there [are] a lot of people who really train and prep for this year,” Wiens said. “That’s the fun of going out there on an Olympic year, is the fact that you know you’re going to be meeting up against the top competition in the nation.”

Talk of the Olympic year has spread throughout the track all season long. With one athlete, redshirt junior Meaghan Nelson, having already qualified for the Olympic Trials in June, coaches and athletes said they hope to see more qualifying times this weekend and the meets to come.

Because of the tough competition at the other meets, such as Mt. SAC, Wiens said some of the jumpers decided to give the Beach Invite a test for their abilities.

“We have potential 25-foot long jumpers who didn’t quite get into the [Mt. SAC Relays], so they’re going to be jumping at Cerritos,” Wiens said. “It’s going to be competitive.”

Coming off a one-two finish in the 400-meter dash at the Jim Duncan Invitational last weekend, sprinters Dana Christensen and Jessica Nichols will head out to California this weekend to show their best.

Coach Corey Ihmels said a majority of the distance group would be competing at the Mt. SAC Relays. However, the shorter track athletes would be in Cerritos on Saturday.

“This weekend is a nightmare for us, because we have so many people going so many different places,” Ihmels said. “But it’s a great trip for us. We get to take our whole team; it’s the first time we’ve been together since indoors.”

Of the three meets the Cyclones have scheduled for this weekend, the Beach Invite is that last one on the list. Competition will begin at 8:45 p.m. Saturday and conclude later that evening at 6:50 p.m. with the men’s 5,000-meter run.