The ISU track and field teams are opening up their outdoor competition for the second half of the season on the road at California and Stanford. A handful of ISU multi-event specialists will compete Thursday in Berkley, Calif., at the University of California.

Meanwhile, a select group mostly comprised of distance runners will compete in the Stanford Invitational at Palo Alto, Calif.

“It’s nice for us to send separate event groups out to different places,” said coach Corey Ihmels. “And it’s a good chance for us to compete outside against competition that is right around our level.”

Jamal Currica will finish up the decathlon Thursday in Berkley for the men. Jordan Andreasson, Anna Holtermann and Jenny Dillon are currently competing in the heptathlon for the ISU women.

The men will compete in four events this weekend at the Stanford Invitational.

A group of distance runners led by Rico Loy, Martin Coolidge and Clayton Carper will compete in three different distance events Friday night. Josh Koglin is going to compete in the hammer throw Saturday for the Cyclones.

Britta Christofferson will be the lone female thrower when she competes in the women’s hammer throw Friday night.

Lucy Kennedy, India Lee and Meaghan Nelson are going to compete in the 5,000-meter run at the Invitational. Semehar Tesfaye, Dani Stack, and three-time All-American Betsy Saina — fresh off a third-place finish at the NCAA Indoor National Championships — will all be representing Iowa State in the women’s 10,000-meter run.

Ihmels — who said the rest of the team will all be back together next week at Missouri — is looking for his team to improve on their indoor results during the outdoor season.

“I think on both sides we have some advantages that make us better outdoors,” Ihmels said. “One event that comes to mind right away is the 10K, but I think we gotta improve on the men’s side at the conference level and be more competitive. The women need to accomplish what they did in indoors, and bring that to outdoors.”