The last two weeks have been a break

in competition for the ISU men’s track and field team, but that

does not mean that hard work was not put in.

ISU coach Corey Ihmels said the

two-week break from competition is one of his favorite times of the

season because that is when the team is really able to make strides

in training without having to worry about competing in a formal

event.

Multi-events coach Pete Herber said

training the last two weeks for junior multi-event competitor Ethan

Wilkins has been somewhat “interesting.”

“We just found out [Tuesday] that he

got cleared to compete this weekend [by the NCAA],” Herber said.

“He’s a junior college transfer, and we just got clearance on him

so he’s pretty excited. He wasn’t expecting to go so his

preparation has been a little bit different, but he’s an extremely

talented kid and we will go out this weekend, and I think he can do

really well.”

Wilkins said he trained as he

normally would and felt like he had a good week of practice and

will be prepared to compete for the Cyclones at the Big 12

Championships in College Station, Texas.

“[I’ve been working] technique,

mostly just getting everything cleaned up [with my form], eating

right and fluids to stay hydrated,” Wilkins said. “We went hard on

certain days at the beginning of the [last] week to get everything

where it would be easier this week from doing everything right

[during last week].”

Wilkins also said his goal is to

place in top four or five in the Big 12 and while it will be a

really close competition, anybody can win it. He said his

preparation leading up to his events will be very

important.

“Sleep, eating right and focus,”

Wilkins said will be crucial. “I won’t let anything get me out of

focusing. When I get there, I just have to go out and grind and

compete.”

As far as the rest of the jumps

squad goes, Herber said his kids are very prepared and focused to

go down to College Station and represent Iowa State.

“We’ve talked about this meet for

the last two months,” Herber said. “This is what we’ve been working

towards so the kids in our group understand what we are trying to

accomplish and what they to do to accomplish that for the

team.”